Local students show entrepreneurial talent

James Coles and Luke Mitchell at the GMCG Inter College Enterprise Competition

Luke Mitchell and James Coles showed how talented they were after being awarded second place in the Greater Manchester Colleges Group (GMCG) Inter College Enterprise Competition.

Both are studying Games Development at Hopwood Hall and represented their college at the event in which they presented their business, ‘Design Gem’ to the judges. Design Gem, founded by Luke, acts as a global market place for design services, connecting passionate designers with clients across the world.

Luke and James were up against students from ten other colleges and, just like in the TV programme, Dragon’s Den; they had to conduct a ten minute pitch to a panel of judges. The duo impressed the panel with their levels of professionalism and confident presentation and enviable knowledge of the market.

They created Design Gem to pioneer a new kind of marketplace for graphic design. The company now has a steady customer base, as well as a number of other potential clients who are waiting for the platform to go live sometime in September this year.

Luke hopes to provide passionate graphic designers with a multitude of potential work opportunities that allow the designers to earn money, build a portfolio and cliental. Both Luke and James see the co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs as an inspiration.

The students have been praised by their school for the hard work they put in during the project and their desire to enter the Inter College Enterprise Competition.