Rules and Procedures

The Competition

The Competition is designed to encourage enterprise amongst undergraduate and graduate students in Downing College and to promote links between alumni and students with the objectives of transmitting business experience and knowledge and teaching business discipline.

Entrants will submit proposals for entrepreneurial ideas for assessment by an Advisory Board comprising alumni and College officers. The Board will shortlist a number of proposals to receive Business Plan Development Grants. It will then choose one or more winners to receive grants up to a maximum value of £20,000 per team to implement the business plan.

The Advisory Board will receive regular reports and monitor the progress of the enterprise for a period of twelve months providing mentoring and guidance as necessary.

The Downing Enterprise Fund

The College has set up a restricted fund called 'The Downing Enterprise Fund' to hold monies given by donors for the purposes of promoting entrepreneurial activities at Downing College. The Advisory Board will advise on the expenditure of funds. Both the capital and the interest may be spent. The Bursar will be the fund holder.

The Advisory Board

  1. The Board will comprise all alumni who have donated at least £10,000 into the fund.
  2. Members will serve for a period of three years but may choose to leave the Board at any time by agreement with the Chairman.
  3. The Bursar and Senior Tutor will be full members of the Board without the requirement to make a donation and will take part in all decisions.
  4. Meetings will be quorate if a simple majority of the members are present.
  5. The decisions of the Board will be final and there will be no appeal.
  6. The Director of Development will be in attendance and will initially keep records and minutes of Board meetings. The Development Office will provide administrative support for the Competition although the Board might wish to make additional arrangements in the future depending on the success of the Competition.
  7. Board Members will elect the Chairman annually for a period of one-year, renewable. The first Chairman will be Luke Nunneley (1981).
  8. The Chairman may invite others to join the Board at any time subject to the agreement of the Board and on payment of the minimum £10,000 donation.
  9. Corporate donations may be paid into the fund and a representative of the organisation will become a full voting member subject to the agreement of the Board.
  10. The Board may co-opt non-donor members in an advisory, non-voting capacity.
  11. Membership of the Board will be reviewed at the end of each Competition period.
  12. The Board will meet as many times as necessary to fulfil the objectives of the Competition and any other related objectives.
  13. All members of the Board will sign a Confidentiality Agreement and will take reasonable steps to protect the data submitted by entrants.

Competition Entry Criteria

  1. All current Downing students, including final year students, will be eligible to enter.
  2. Students may enter as individuals or as part of a team of up to five members.
  3. Membership of teams will be open to students of other colleges within the University of Cambridge but teams must have some connection with Downing and the Board will favour teams with a Downing majority.
  4. The Team Leader must be a current Downing student.
  5. Downing Fellows and others outside of the College may act as advisors to entrants.
  6. Alumni who graduated in the three years prior to the start date of the competition will be eligible to enter as members of a team.
  7. Existing businesses set up and run by Downing students may be entered into the Competition provided that all other entry criteria are satisfied. Enterprises based on events will be eligible for entry.
  8. Individuals and teams can submit only one entry per competition.
  9. Individuals and teams may enter competitions in more than one year.
  10. Winners will not be eligible to enter in future years either as individuals or as teams.
  11. All entrants will be required to behave ethically and honestly throughout the whole competition.
  12. The Board may at its discretion disqualify any entrant and withdraw funding at any time.

Proposal Stage

  1. The competition will open in the Michaelmas Term and entry details will be publicised within College and on the JCR and MCR websites (subject to the consent of the JCR and MCR Committees).
  2. Proposals must be word-processed and must not exceed a maximum of four sides of A4 in a reasonable sized font. Further details may be sought at the discretion of the Advisory Board.
  3. The full names of all team members and their affiliations (e.g. Downing student, alumnus, student of another College etc) must be listed along with their subjects, years and the names of tutors and directors of studies and full contact details (home and College). A form will be provided for this purpose and must be attached to the proposal. Each team must designate a Team Leader.
  4. Proposals must not place excessive demands on undergraduates during term-time. The College will monitor this carefully.
  5. Each proposal must clearly state the business objectives to be achieved, the timeframe, the capital required (up to a maximum of £20,000), any legal and regulatory conditions which might apply and an initial profit forecast subject to further detail in the Business Plan should the entry be shortlisted.
  6. Each proposal must be lawful and must comply with the College's Ethical Investment policy. The College currently does not have direct holdings in tobacco companies.
  7. The deadline for submission of entries will be 5.30pm , 19th December 2007.
  8. Entries must be signed and dated by each team member and posted or emailed to the Development Director at Downing College, Room C1, by the deadline.
  9. The Advisory Board will meet soon thereafter and decide on a shortlist by the end of January. The shortlisted teams will each be awarded a Business Plan Development Grant up to a maximum of £500 subject to conditions set out in a letter of agreement to be signed by team members.

Business Plan stage

  1. The Advisory Board will guide and advise each team on the production of a business plan and members of the Board may act as mentors to the shortlisted teams.
  2. Team members may begin work on the business plan at any time after the shortlist has been announced. However, Downing students will be expected to give priority to their academic work during term-time and must not spend more than 2 hours per week on the project until after their exams have ended. The College will monitor this carefully.
  3. The deadline for submission of business plans is 5.30pm, Monday, 21st April 2008. The plan must be sent by email and hard copy to the Development Director at Downing College, Room C1.

Judging and Selecting Winners

  1. Each team will be invited to present its business plan to the Board in April or May on a date to be determined along with a detailed account of how the Business Plan Development Grant was used. Any unspent portion of the grant must be returned to the College.
  2. The Board will select one or more winning teams to receive grants up to a maximum value of £20,000 subject to conditions set out in a letter of agreement to be signed by team members. The Advisory Board will determine the exact value of the grants, the methods of payment and any conditions attached to their use.

General Grant Conditions

  1. Each Downing undergraduate member of the winning team must obtain the written consent of his or her Tutor and Director of Studies in order for the team to be eligible to receive the grant. A form will be provided for this purpose. If necessary, revisions to team membership may be made at this stage and reported to the Board.
  2. Normally, winning teams will not be required to repay the grant unless the grant is not used for the purposes for which it was intended or if, in the opinion of the Advisory Board, the use of the grant brings either the Advisory Board or the College into disrepute or might cause other harm to the College or the members of the Advisory Board (see Competition Entry Criteria, point 12 above).
  3. A proportion of the grant may be released as an advance if required on the basis of an estimate of reasonable expected expenditure. The remainder will normally be released on the presentation of official estimates, invoices or receipts from suppliers. Team members may claim legitimate expenses relating to the running of the business but the grant will not cover the payment of salaries.
  4. Exceptionally, depending on the nature of the business proposal and the size of the grant proposed, the Advisory Board may seek to negotiate a form of return to the College similar to that which might be agreed with external investors. This will be discussed and agreed with the members of the affected team and will be set out in a separate letter from the Chairman of the Advisory Board.

Implementation Stage

  1. Undergraduates can start work on implementing their business plans only after their exams have been completed.
  2. The progress of teams will be monitored by Downing Enterprise for a period of 12 months from the date of the awarding of grants.
  3. Winners may establish limited liability companies for their enterprises and the Board will advise in this respect.
  4. Teams will be required to report regularly and to present accounts to the Board until the end of the 12-month monitoring period. The Board will allocate one or more of its number as mentors to guide the enterprises through this period.
  5. Teams will present a final report and accounts to the Board at the end of the monitoring period and the Board will make an assessment up to that point.
  6. Each member of the winning team may apply to Board members for employment references.

Post-competition

  1. After the 12-month monitoring period, individual members of the Board will have the option to invest in the winning enterprises independently of the College or to continue to advise and guide the enterprise in a private capacity subject to the agreement of the business owners and the other members of the Advisory Board.
  2. The College asks the winners of the Competition:
    i. to remember Downing College if and when they become successful in the future and to give consideration to making philanthropic donations to the College in support of its educational and charitable objectives;
    ii. to take part in future enterprise competitions at Downing College as investors, judges and mentors as and when invited to do so.

The Advisory Board may at any time change, withdraw or add to any of the above conditions at its discretion.

October 2007