So with news this week that the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards 2019 are now open UniGreenScheme – a UoB alumnus who went all the way to the national finals and came away with £15,000 as winner in the ‘Important day to day Products and Services' category back in 2016.
for entries our first reaction was to get an update from Michael McLeod from
Michael's light-bulb moment came as he walked past a skip on campus one day and realised he could store and sell the items being scrapped and save the university money and reduce waste.
Michael graduated with a Sport & Exercise degree at Birmingham and left the university during his postgraduate course to concentrate fully on the growing business. Three years on from his initial success, UniGreenScheme has continued to thrive and we caught up with Michael to find out how things are going for the company…
The company continues to grow, we are now serving many top universities across the UK, including Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick and many more. We now have two separate operational sites, a fully independent and growing operation based in Dumfries, Scotland, with a regional business manager based there.
We have 12 staff and export products all over the world, recent sales include locations such as China, Russia, Norway, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia. We have supplied numerous key organisations with equipment including a recent sale to NASA.'
Most importantly, we have now prevented over 200,000Kg of equipment being disposed of as electrical waste, saving over 600,000kg of Carbon Emissions through re-use.
Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards 2019
Enter the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards, you have until Sunday 14 April to submit your idea. Find out more.
With thanks to Michael McLeod, compiled by Bob Lee
