On 1 March, seven young apprentices from Isaac Newton Academy Ilford took part in an airline-themed business challenge at top international consultancy firm Oliver Wyman. Students were tasked with choosing a new destination for a struggling airline; developing a marketing strategy and advertising campaign, and increasing profit margins by creating a new in-flight menu. They used costing models, consumer and competitor research, and industry knowledge to determine the most popular and profitable destinations before pitching their ideas at the end of the day.
They were supported throughout the day by leading consultants, who were impressed by how well the year 7 students took to the tasks and praised their original, well-thought through ideas.
Well done to all the students who took part particularly the one convert quoted “I loved everything and I thought that we learned a lot about business. I would like to be a management consultant one day. Even though we didn’t win the challenge, we still won because we all worked well together.”