Universities get virtual golf business out of bunker
Citybunker, a business in the heart of Canary Wharf, has a great product: it offers virtual golf where you practice your game on the world’s most famous courses. But until recently it wasn’t pulling in the customers. Shabby premises and poor marketing left them cold.
Managing Director Paul Smith turned to KnowledgeEast, the consortium of eight local universities and colleges which pools its knowledge to deliver services to business.
Tex Dunstan of the University of Greenwich, a KnowledgeEast business advisor, helped him identify the problems. “The place needed a makeover,” says Tex. “It was dull, not the kind of environment to attract corporate clients. That was the key to being able to rebrand Citybunker as a place to relax and entertain friends and clients as well as get in a round of golf.”
Tex suggested a simple solution: use one of the consortium’s students who could apply design and IT skills to the makeover. The benefits to the employer are threefold: they get the input of a fresh, innovative talent; the student is supervised by his or her university tutor for experienced back-up, and the service is cheap.
Tex then got in touch with his colleagues across the consortium to trawl for the right student. Paul Smith was able to choose from six: he selected Danielle Williams, a University of East London student doing a BA (Hons) in Printed Textiles and Surface Decoration.
Paul Smith says: ”I am delighted with the results produced by Danielle. She was extremely professional and she integrated well with the management team and external contractors. Apart from the obvious cost savings of working with the university, I would argue that what has been delivered and the service we have received is as good, if not better, than what I could have expected if I had gone to a professional interior design company; which would have cost me a small fortune.”
Today CityBunker is on the up. Staff have grown from two to 15 and Paul is planning to open two more golf simulator centres. Danielle has already been commissioned to lead on interior design. Paul says the contribution of KnowledgeEast made “a huge impact”, including helping to bring the cost of the project down from £600,000 to £250,000 which means the business will see a profit within six months.
Tex says: “KnowledgeEast is an amazing resource with the talents of 10,000 staff and 80,000 students. Together we can deliver solutions to businesses in the creative industries, arts and design, media and communication, environmental technologies, ICT, life sciences and production and manufacturing.”
If you would like to know how KnowledgeEast can help you, contact Tex Dunstan on 020 8331 8693, email: a.s.dunstan@gre.ac.uk or visit the website www.knowledgeeast.com
Editors’ notes:
The KnowledgeEast members are:
Goldsmiths, University of London
London Metropolitan University
Queen Mary, University of London
Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication
Trinity Laban
Rose Bruford College
University of East London
University of Greenwich
For images, interviews and information contact:
Hester Brown
Press Officer for the University of Greenwich
Tel: 020 8331 7663
Mob: 07876 193 481