York students prepare for Christmas
Students from the University of York helped to kick-start the festive season last week at Careers’ Christmas Market.
With 26 stalls selling everything from jewellery to gingerbread, the market provided the perfect place to pick up presents. The market proved popular with students and staff alike, with more than 650 people visiting the stalls over the course of the day.
Student stallholder Bethan said, “The Christmas market had a wonderfully festive atmosphere from the outset – each stall looked inviting and laden with a variety of products. On our stall, the Chocolate Orange brownies were by far the favourite; we actually sold out of them about an hour before the end of the event!”
Organised by the enterprise team in Careers, the event also enabled students to enhance their employability by developing their entrepreneurship skills. The aim of the market was to encourage students to try their hand at making or sourcing products and then gain experience selling in a retail environment. For those students who intend to go on to set up their own businesses, the market proved the ideal opportunity to undertake market research and test the response to their products.
“The Christmas market was a great success!” said entrepreneur, Anna. “It was great just to get out there and see if our enterprise would work within the student population. It was a good opportunity to view all the other products that people were offering, see how they were marketed and what was the biggest success. Overall we had a good turnover and made a profit to be satisfied with on the day!”
Student baker and confectioner, Daniel, added, “The Christmas market has enabled me to showcase my talents and test prices; the overall response to my homemade products has been overwhelming and has really given me the confidence to go into business in the near future.”
Following the success of this year’s market, there are plans to hold an Easter and Mother’s Day market next year.
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