Bristol graduate awarded top UK prize for start-up business venture

By Filiz Emily Gurer, News Editor

A University of Bristol graduate who created a start-up business to help students feel more at home while studying abroad, has been awarded a top UK prize.

Alfie Laurence, who graduated from the University in July this year, set up Student Travel Tips whilst studying at Bristol, to provide peer to peer advice for students studying abroad.

Alfie was one of more than 80 people to enter the Santander University Entrepreneurship Awards, which is a UK-wide entrepreneurial business pitching competition for students and recent graduates.

His winning effort towards the competition’s Crowdfunding challenge saw him crowdfund over £5,000 towards his business, which was boosted by winning the cash prize of £6,000 from Santander.

Alfie set up Student Travel Tips to counter the loneliness students can feel when studying abroad. He has since branched out to create a Student Travel Talks series as part of a 320 member strong Facebook group called Year Abroad Connect, encouraging students to support each other.

Speaking on his involvement in the competition Alfie said: ‘If there is one thing I’ll cherish the most from the early stages of my start up journey, it’ll be the confidence that the Basecamp Enterprise team gave me. I never expected to be doing this full time and I am thankful to them for their help.’

Dr Jon Hunt, Executive Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Bristol said: ‘It’s great to see a start-up business like Alfie’s getting recognised with such a prestigious award. The University has a proud legacy and successful track record in supporting innovation through its vibrant start-up, spin-out and scale-up business ecosystem, resulting in significant economic value and job creation for the region.’

Bristol is now the best city in the UK outside London for start-ups, according to the research centre Startup Blink, which has compiled the Start-Up Ecosystem Rankings 2020; using data collected from 1,000 cities in 100 countries.

Featured image: University of Bristol

What do you think about Student Travel Tips winning the prize from Santander?