Teams from twelve universities from across the UK visited Lancaster to compete head to head in the prestigious FLUX competition. Their challenge - specifically designed to test business and commercial skills - was set by international construction and engineering group Costain.

A team from Plymouth University emerged triumphant in the grand final at the end of the challenging and intensive two-day contest held over 1 and 2 April in the University’s Management School.

Joshua Lintern from IBM, lead sponsor and also one of the judges at this year’s event, said: “Plymouth University's success stems from a consistent and well-balanced approach to the value of teamwork and coherently presenting an innovative and original idea in a professional manner.

“It was encouraging to see all the teams presenting an array of innovative solutions with such a challenging scenario.”

Lancaster University, whose own team reached the final, will host the FLUX event for the next three years.

Mark Diggle, Head of Careers at Lancaster University, said: “This year’s FLUX competition demonstrated that there is some truly outstanding business talent coming through our universities. This is the first year that Lancaster University have organised this prestigious event and it was a pleasure to see the teams working so well on the challenges.”

Charlotte Hey, Quality and Performance Manager with Costain, said: “I was amazed by how committed all the students were and the drive and initiative that they showed throughout the competition. All of the judges from Costain praised the students for their enthusiastic approach and determination to complete the challenge.”

Abu Saleh from Deloitte, another of the event’s sponsors and judges, said: “Lancaster University did an outstanding job in hosting and organising the event, which provided numerous opportunities for judges, students, employers and university ambassadors to expand their network.

“Increasingly, graduates are required to demonstrate problem solving skills and commercial awareness. Events such as FLUX provide great opportunities for participants to demonstrate that they possess such skills when interviewing.”

Other companies involved in the competition as expert mentors and judges included Andi Lewis Consultancy, BAE Systems, Burton Fisher Financial Services, FGH Security, Foxcroft Roofing, Kingsway HR, Nu Blue, Penrillian, Santander, Snowball Consulting, and Tarbun and Company.

Tony Burns, Director at Kingsway HR, said: “It was an absolute privilege to be involved in an event which showcased the talents of the competing teams.

“At a time when young people aren’t always portrayed in a good light, it was refreshing to see our future business generation performing tasks with professionalism, integrity, ingenuity, innovation, drive and determination. Add to that an abundance of charisma and hard work and it is easy to see why they all nailed it.”

Teams that took part in FLUX 2014, which was developed by the Working Knowledge Group, came from the following universities: Bangor University, University of Bedfordshire, University of Central Lancashire, University of Cumbria, Hult International Business School, Lancaster University, Manchester Metropolitan University; Newcastle University, Nottingham Trent University, Plymouth University, Swansea University, and the University of the West of Scotland.