Sky’s the limit for OU Student Entrepreneurship Competition winner

MBA (Technology Management) student Claudio Marturano scooped £5,000 as the clear winner of The Open University Student Entrepreneurship Competition.

The cash will help to grow his business Nubis Aviation Ltd and he will now be the University’s nomination in this year’s Santander Entrepreneurship Awards, as well as being invited to interview for the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Unlocking Ambition Enterprise Fellowship Programme.

Claudio, who has used his experience in the aviation engineering industry and his MBA programme studies to develop the business, said: “It is dedicated to the continuous training and improvement of aviation maintenance personnel through learning management software and training needs analysis that is innovative to the industry. Our vision is to develop an approved training academy that will create and sustain licenced engineers through continuous learning.”

Nicholas Allen, in his final year of an undergraduate Business Studies degree, received an Honourable Mention and £1,000 for his luxury accessories business Flo&Vie which bases its products on his wife Naomi’s designs.

Nicholas (shown with Jane Jones, Associate Dean for Student Experience) said afterwards: “It was refreshing to meet other students having similar experiences with learning later in life and using their OU experience to motivate them in their business ventures.”