The University of Winchester recently invited the world’s largest franchisor of home service brands, Neighbourly®, to an event by the Faculty of Business, Law and Digital Futures, of final year business students presenting their projects.

Over 20 students showcased their ideas and creativity to a panel of experts, including Joshua Barker and Daniela Healey of Neighbourly, and together they chose a worthy entrepreneurial winner who will now develop and launch their new business – an app for the care industry.

Whilst at the University, Joshua addressed the students about the importance of values in the business world and how they can help serve as a set of universal guidelines for everyone to strive and adhere to. He also gave them a brief insight into the benefits of franchising as a potential career path and shared some great success stories.

“We were privileged to be invited to The University of Winchester and to give our opinion on some of the amazing and inspirational businesses that the students had produced over the past academic year,” commented Joshua Barker, Marketing Manager of Neighbourly. “Commercial viability was a hot topic of conversation, but more significantly, I personally wanted to understand the ‘why’ behind their ideas. The ‘why’ of a business is often born from an individual’s value set and this gave me the chance to explain how values can provide the bedrock of who a business is, what it stands for, and ultimately the reason for it to exist.

“Neighbourly is a great example of a value-based organisation, and I hope that by speaking to the business leaders of tomorrow at The University of Winchester, many others will understand the power of values in business and have the opportunity to work for organisations that live with a RICH code of values – Respect, Integrity, Customer Service and Having fun in the process. It was hugely exciting to be part of the judging panel and to hear the budding entrepreneurs of the future pitching their ideas. The students’ enthusiasm and confidence is a testament to the quality of the University of Winchester and I would like to say a big thank you for involving us.”

Paul Wilson, Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer for Digital Media Design/Development at the University of Winchester, added: “It was a pleasure to host this event and to give our students the opportunity to show the panel what they could do. The range of ideas was extensive with many proving what they would be able to achieve in terms of practical, commercial ideas. Josh and Daniela’s input was invaluable and the comments provided were engaging and constructive, providing enthusiasm and support for the ideas they saw.”

For more information about Neighborly’s service brands, simply complete the form below!