The University of Bath Pop-Up Shop competition has returned to the city after 11 years, giving teams of students the chance to run a pop-up shop in the city centre for a day. The Pop-Up Shop will be open Tuesday 3 June - Saturday 7 June, 10am - 4pm each day and we encourage students and staff to visit and support our entrepreneurial students.
Each team has gone through a selection process and the top five teams have made it through to this final stage. The teams have been given a £500 loan, produced a business and marketing plan, and are working with their own dedicated mentor. The winning team will be the ones who make the most profit in the six hours of trading.
The teams you will find at the shop
The panel were hugely impressed by all the applications and had a tough time making their decision on the final five teams. After much discussion and deliberation, the teams who were chosen to run the shop for a day are:
| Team name | Product | Trading day |
|---|---|---|
| Lemme | Japanese-inspired speciality drinks rarely found in Bath | Tuesday 3 June |
| Sweet Spot | Dubai chocolate strawberry cups | Wednesday 4 June |
| Matcha Morning | Matcha-flavoured hot and cold drinks and baked goods | Thursday 5 June |
| Fostoq | Pistachio ice cream, including ice cream slices, sundaes and fresh lemonade in celebration of Eid | Friday 6 June |
| RK | Streetwear fashion celebrating sporting culture | Saturday 7 June |
Congratulations to all the teams who have made it to this stage of the competition! The Pop-Up Shop competition is a unique chance to gain real-world business experience in a supportive, encouraging environment that rewards entrepreneurialism.
Throughout the competition, students will build key transversal skills such as collaboration, communication, and prioritisation as well as crucial technical skills in areas such as marketing, project management and business planning.
Siobain Hone, Graduate Enterprise Manager said:
Everyone knows that joining the University of Bath on a programme of study or research is a world-class academic experience and our Pop-Up Shop competition shows that it can be a uniquely rewarding, real-life entrepreneurial experience too. Our five teams are ready to take a risk and compete to see who can run the most profitable trading day with mentoring and specially-tailored workshops designed to help them reflect on and showcase their work for the future.
What happens after the trading week
After all the teams have completed their trading day, they’ll be able to attend dedicated workshops with the Careers team and reflect with their mentor on how it went and what they learned. Students will be encouraged to anyalyse their decisions and assess the effectiveness of their strategies. They will then come together on 13 June for the Grand Finale, where the winning team will be announced, as well as the winners of additional awards for the Best Marketing Campaign and the Green Choice Award.
This competition is open to all students, from any course and has been designed to be a learning experience giving students fantastic skills they can add to their CV and LinkedIn profiles when the competition has ended. The students will also have the opportunity to have professional headshots taken and learn how to craft the experience for maximum effect on CVs, job applications, and their LinkedIn profiles.
Helen Stringer, Director of Employability and Student Success said:
We're proud to support students in developing their entrepreneurial skills through the competition. This initiative empowers students to take real business risks, showcase their creativity, and gain invaluable hands-on experience. Their ambition and innovation reflects the strength of our University, and our enduring commitment to student enterprise, career readiness, and meaningful community engagement.
How to find the shop
We’d love as many students and staff as possible to visit the shop to support the teams and try out their amazing products during the trading week of Tuesday 3 June to Saturday 7 June. The pop-up shops will be in Studio 22, 22c New Bond Street, Bath and will be trading between 10am and 4pm. Please do visit if you’re in the city centre, the teams would love to see you there.
Other programmes for Enterprise Bath include the Dragons’ Den pitching competition (where students can pitch for investment from an alumni panel), and the Alumni Innovation Award (where graduates are given a grant and support to develop their ideas into viable businesses). For those students who have a fully formed business plan they can spend their placement year developing their startup with support from Enterprise Bath.