Spark business competitions

Do you have a business idea? Or have you already started a business and want to take it to the next level?

If you are a University of Leeds student, or you have graduated from the University of Leeds in the last seven years, then you could enter the University of Leeds Business Plan Competition 2026.

This annual competition awards prizes in two main categories: pre-trading and trading up to 24 months.

Applications for the 2025/26 scheme are now open and close on Monday 2 March 2026 at 10.00am.

To apply, please complete this application form

For more information, contact Angela Archer:

• Email Angela: a.m.archer@leeds.ac.uk
• Phone Angela: +44(0)113 343 2551 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm)

Registration for Semester Two’s competition will open on 30 January

Do you have what it takes to run a successful simulated business? You could win a share of £1,250 if your team beats the odds. Register before 24 February!

This competition is a collaboration between Spark and SimVenture for students studying at the University. The purpose of the event is to allow students to collaborate and work in teams and compete against each other using the business simulation ‘SimVenture Evolution’.

The two-stage competition has an online qualifying stage and then an in-person final event on Friday 20 March 2026. 

Teams that perform best against the competition criteria in the online qualifying stage progress to the finals. Teams that reach the finals will be judged on their presentation and reflective skills as well as their ability to run a simulated business.

A prize fund of £1,250 will be shared with finalist winners.

The free-to-enter event is open to student teams from all seven faculties at the University of Leeds. Student teams must consist of a minimum of two and a maximum of four people. Student teams entering the competition can comprise of people from the same or different faculties although teams with a mix of students from different faculties have a greater chance of making it to the finals. To enter the competition, students within each team need to provide their name, email address, faculty of study and student number on the event registration page.

First prize (£2,000)

• £2000 plus Limehouse special recognition award of £500

  Jade Cubitt

  (BSc Adult Nursing 2023) for The Art of Skin.

Winner in the Trading category is 28-year-old mother-of-two Jade Cubitt. Jade had already completed an undergraduate and master's degree before graduating from Leeds in 2023 with a BSc Nursing (Adult). She then held down two jobs, in A&E in Harrogate and at a medical aesthetics company, before securing a grant from the Prince's Trust to achieve her ambition of setting up her own medical aesthetics clinic – The Art of Skin - in Otley last year, where she offers a wide range of high-quality skin rejuvenation treatments.  Saving up for new equipment to expand treatment ranges to her growing clientele, Jade also works extra shifts as an agency nurse, and when researching potential funding she came across Spark and the business plan competition.

In addition to her win in the Trading category, Jade also won an additional special recognition Limehouse Award, selected by Limehouse founder (and former business plan competition winner), Nick Howard.  Jade will put her total prize money towards the kit she's been working so hard to afford.

2nd prize (£1,250)

• Joe Simpson

  (Final year BA Business Management with Marketing) for his digital application ‘TreckMate'  which mimics the experience of hostels by providing travellers with on-the-go opportunities.

3rd prize (£750 each)

• Dragos Popa and Nikita Dumitriuc

  (Computer Science BSc 2024) for their AI-powered personal study assistant, Plato, designed for higher education students.

• Special Managers Award (£500)

• Emily Youd

          (3rd year BA Fashion Marketing) for her Etsy and Depop shops, Emily Elizabeth's.

First prize (£2,000)

Fritz Heinzle

A semi-professional ice hockey player, Fritz (1^st Year, International Business) joined Leeds Knights 2 ice hockey team and volunteers as a coach for the younger players. Noting the relative lack of training facilities such as those he used back in the US, his hugely ambitious business idea is to open an off-ice hockey training facility to practice core skills. The facility will use artificial ice tiles (which allow the puck to glide easily over the surface), enabling players to improve stick handling, shooting and passing – all of the technical elements that come with ice hockey without the skating.

The tipping point for Fritz's plans becoming reality is partly finding the right location to house the training facility and also securing a large  chunk of investment.  But he's already onto that: “I've lined up some potential investors to talk to from back home in the US through connections, so we'll see how things go!” he says.  In the meantime, Fritz is saving his £2,000 cash prize to help out with his venture's finances.

2nd prize (£,1250)

Pip Chilcott & Erin Wilkins

Pip Chilcott: (Nutrition BSc 2024) and Erin Wilkins: (Food Science and Nutrition BSc 2024) for MiGreenKitchen, developing food products containing a nutrient-packed punch of microgreens.

Joint 3rd prize (£750 each)

Faizaan Noyda

(MSc Biotechnology & Business Enterprise 2024) for his Manna Health line of 100% natural superfood products to elevate everyday wellness.

Joint 3rd Prize Pre-Trading Winner

Juan Cubillos Collazos

(Final year MSc Management information systems and digital innovation) for his research-backed product of edible coating for fruits and vegetables.