Victorious University of Strathclyde repeats history at fourth UK edition of Tata Crucible Campus Quiz via @tatacompanies

UK champions win a second opportunity to travel to India for the international finals, along with newcomers ESCP Europe

London: The team of Anup Nair and Michael Doroszenko from The University of Strathclyde emerged as champions for the second year in a row at the fourth annual UK Tata Crucible, a major business quiz designed to encourage lateral thinking and test commercial awareness for the country’s future business leaders.

The winning team of Anup Nair (left) and Michael Doroszenko from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

The pair from Strathclyde impressed the audience and the quiz master ‘Pickbrain’ with a confident win, fighting off a spirited challenge from the second place team of ESCP Europe and third place team of London Business School (LBS), with the championship title being decided only on the last question of the evening.

Amongst this year’s special guests were Dr Ralph Speth, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover, who expressed fascination with the power of the questions and the excitement of the evening, while emphasising the crucial role that young talent plays in the future success of companies.

This year’s chief guest was Jo Johnson, MP for Orpington and former India bureau chief for the Financial Times. Awarding the winners with their prizes, Mr Johnson said: “It is a very inspiring evening. I am just awe-struck, by not just the knowledge, the factual knowledge that our contestants had, but the ingenuity and the creativity that they displayed in all of their answers.” He urged the students to strive for excellence to achieve success and added, “Keep on displaying the sheer enthusiasm for the subject matter and the creativity and ingenuity I just referred to and the world will be yours.”

The first runner-up team of Pietro le Casto (left) and Aditya Sriram Sankaran from ESCP Europe

The 2011 UK Tata Crucible Campus quiz saw participation from over 20 top UK universities. Taking the challenge were over 150 students in teams of two, representing a wide range of universities across the UK, including London Business School, London School of Economics, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial College, University College London, Aston, Bath, Cambridge, Loughborough, Sheffield and many others.

The quiz master, Giri Balasubramaniam, aka Pickbrain, tested the students’ business brains to the maximum, with challenging questions covering everything from the American Express logo, Bono’s business ventures, the “Paris Hilton problem” to the history of Godiva Chocolates’ name.

The second runner-up team of Owen James and Shane Clancy from London Business School

The event, which was held at the Institute of Engineering and Technology at Savoy Place, London on November 20, 2011, united some of the UK’s sharpest young minds in a business quiz designed to test their speed of thought and lateral thinking while battling for £7,500 in prize money and other prizes. Tata, one of the UK’s largest industrial employers, hosts the quiz as part of its youth engagement programme in the UK.

Results:

First place: Anup Karath Nair / Michael Doroszenko, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Second place: Pietro Lo Casto / Aditya Sriram Sankaran, ESCP Europe
Third place: Shane Clancy / Owen James, London Business School
The other five finalist teams on stage included two teams from London School of Economics, and one team each from Oxford, London Business School and Manchester.

The Tata Crucible Campus Quiz is already an established event in University calendars in India and Singapore, and is now in its fourth year in the UK. The top prize awarded was £4,000, with second and third place teams taking home £2,000 and £1,500 respectively, besides a host of other prizes for finalists and the audience. The top two teams from the UK edition will travel to India early next year for an international final with the top two teams each from the Singapore and India editions of the quiz.

Anwar Hasan, head, Tata Limited, UK, said: “I congratulate the teams for putting up an impressive fight and we are delighted to crown the team from The University of Strathclyde as this year’s winners yet again. I wish them and the first runner-up ESCP Europe the best of luck for the International Finals next year.

“In today’s competitive business environment it is vital for students to take an active interest in the business world and their future career. The Tata Crucible offers a fun, interactive way for students to test their lateral thinking and business knowledge, whilst learning and connecting with one of the most diverse businesses in the world.”

For more details about Tata Crucible, please visit www.tatacrucible.com/uk