Colleges Take Over at Widnes Market Trading Day

Business students have impressed shoppers at the famous outdoor Widnes Market during a market takeover day, where they developed and styled their own stalls to showcase newly acquired business skills.

In the lead up to the successful takeover day, the students worked hard on marketing and brand awareness whilst developing strategies to increase revenue and footfall. They sourced exciting new products to sell, including hand-made candles, cakes, clothing, and luxury sweet bags. The keen students also had the opportunity to pick up valuable tips as they worked alongside existing traders.

During the project, the young entrepreneurs in the second year of the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Business, Marketing and Finance pitched their marketing plans to The Worshipful the Mayor of Halton, Councillor Christopher Rowe and Widnes Market Management Team, who awarded Stall of the Day and Best Marketing Project, with a trophy, certificate, and market vouchers.

Congratulations to Kacper Kopanski and Yuel Bagcat for winning Best Marketing Project and Cronton Cakery, hosted by Ellis Maitland Price, Oliwier Brodzik, Gabriel Bojanowski, Vincent Barnwell, and William Bloomfield, who won the Stall of the Day.

Level 2 Business student Olivia Simpson said, “I had a really fun day at the market. It was great to see how small businesses operate in this environment, and the experience has really brought my course to life! I enjoyed talking to the customers throughout the day and learning about sales and customer service.”

Programme Area Leader for Business at Riverside College and Cronton Sixth Form College, Bryan Doyle, said, “This was a great experience for our students and allowed them to put what they had learned into practice in a real business environment. Vocational courses should give students real-life experience of how their subjects are applied in real situations. For business students, I can think of nothing better to teach entrepreneurship than getting them to trade in our famous market for a day and to deliver professional quality marketing plans to a panel of judges.”