In 1998, some years after the York Award programme was started, it was decided
that a module introducing students to enterprise would be desirable. A module was designed
with the text of a study guide drafted for the first pilot delivery in 1999.
The module was supported by a series of talks and involved the students, who were a mix of undergraduates and postgraduates from a range of departments in the University of York, forming groups of 4 to 5 with the aims of thinking of a business idea and developing it to a full business plan.
External industrial mentors were used to support each group as they worked through all the necessary marketing, financial and personal soul searching research.
A panel of judges from the University and the main sponsors, the HSBC Bank and the York
Training and Enterprise Council judged each final business plan and presentation. York
Award points were given to all successful groups.
Following this successful initial pilot the potential for integrating the enterprise element into the core Transferable Skills course in the Department of Electronics was realised. This module was the repository of personal and professional skills development activities such as public speaking, report writing, problem solving, working in teams, etc.
The module primarily supported the first year group project, a project designed to make the first year students get to know each other in their supervision groups and produce something technical. Adding an enterprise thread to it gave the course cohesion and a solid thread on which the project and the transferable skills development could be hung [1].
The successful bid to WRCE funding for the development of this module and the necessary resources ensued and Running Your Own Show as we now know it was born.
