This is your chance to run a real shop in Bath city centre for 24 hours with a £500 loan, mentoring support, and the opportunity to make real profit. The competition is open to all students, and you can apply individually or as a team of five to seven people.

How it works

First, you apply to the programme. You don’t need to be in a team, or have finalised your team yet, to do this. After that, we meet with everyone to find out a bit more about their ideas and place them into a team if needed. You then have time to flesh out your proposal and put together a more detailed plan.

When your plan has been submitted, the whole team meets with an expert panel to talk them through it. The panel picks the four best plans and allocates a mentor to each successful team. Each team gets to run the pop-up shop for a day and is given a £500 loan to buy stock, create a marketing campaign, and plan a strategy in advance of their allocated trading day.

Mentors support teams while they plan their day in the shop and afterwards help them reflect on how it went and what they learned.

Timelines

Applications open at midday on 23 February 2026 and will close on 13 March 2026. After applications have closed, you will not be able to take part in the programme this year, so we recommend submitting your application as soon as you can.

Who can apply

The programme is open to all students. It doesn’t matter what course you’re studying, or what stage of study you’re at, the competition is open to everyone and is a fun way to get new experience and make new friends.

You can either form your own team, or we’ll place you into a team, to make sure that you’re working with people with complimentary skills – so whether you’re a marketing expert, a business guru, a finance ninja or you just want to give it a shot and see what it’s like, you can have a go!

More information

Find full details, key dates and the application form on the Pop-Up Shop Programme webpage.