In March, our university informed us that Santander were running a national university entrepreneurship competition. We had to submit our business plan and various other documents/details of the business. After many late nights in the library our business plan was ready for submission.
During the height of revision, we found out that our business plan had been selected by our Vice Principal to represent our university in the undergraduate category.
A month later, while in. Thailand, we got some news that turned our faces into those of excitable puppies...
We were picked by the judges to come and pitch at Santander Head Office!!!! To say we were shocked is an understatement. We spent the next 48 hours pinching ourselves! The realisation of the enormity of the task soon set in and we were immediately back to work making plans for our pitch.
Competition day
At Santander HQ, we were welcomed and shown to a waiting room where we had the chance to talk to our fellow competitors, while we waited our turn to pitch.
The day went by super fast and before we knew it, it was time to shine. Armed with our props and clicker, we headed towards the judging room. Weeks of hard work all boiled down to this point.
We entered the room to 6 poker-faced judges and began our pitch. When they laughed at the definition of Attollo (Latin, 'I lift up, I raise, I excite'), it definitely softened the mood, and the pitch couldn't have gone any better. The Q&A session also went well. Nothing caught us off guard and as the judges probably gathered, we can talk forever about Attollo! We left the judging room very happy, knowing that no matter the outcome, we were very proud of ourselves.
Award day
Breakfast celebrations were in order! No matter where we were to come in the final, we still made it into the Top 5 of 67 National applicants. We headed to The Wolseley for something small and delicious.
When we arrived at Triton Square on Tuesday we just wanted to know the outcome! The tea and coffee was flowing, we networked and it was great to speak to some of the judges in a more friendly environment. We were so happy when DG and MH-K from our University arrived. It was lovely to have friendly faces there to support us... resulting in some serious Cheshire Cat grins!
We were ushered into the award room to sit with the other finalists. The room filled with applause when Ana Botin arrived and apprehension fell on us. This was it!
When Attollo was called second, we were ecstatic. The next few minutes were a blur of photographs and congratulations.
We'd like to thank everyone for all of the support so far- you guys keep us going!
Alice and Fleurette
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