Winners of 'Designed for business' to be named at the House of Commons

Finalists of the ‘Designed for Business Competition’ are invited to a glittering prize-giving ceremony at the House of Commons tonight, where a lucky winner will get their hands on a 30,000 pound prize.

The competition - a unique collaboration between the Society of British & International Design (SBID) and BE OPEN - showcases emerging talent in different UK industries, to promote equal opportunities and to nurture relationships between students and the working world.

Hundreds of graduate students put forward submissions for the five different award categories: Interior Design, Interior Decoration, Fashion, Art & Design and Product Design.

Expert judges from relevant industries and academia, including Philippa Newman, Design Manager at John Lewis, Sebastian Conran, Trustee of the Design Museum in London, Jane Hay, International Managing Director of Christie's Education, and Guangci Qu, a contemporary Chinese sculptor, will be judging the finalists.

As well as the overall 30,000 pound cash prize, winners from each category will also receive 1,000 pounds.

SBID founder Dr Vanessa Brady OBE, said in a statement: "SBID has been running student competitions for several years and it has been proven that students have the talent, training and tenacity to achieve great things.

“Yet what students need is a job and money; with this competition someone could become instantly debt-free, or in the position to create business start-up self-funded - it may inspire a generation of creatives."

BE OPEN founder Elena Baturina, added: "I am thoroughly impressed by the calibre of entries and the thinking behind each of the finalists' works. I'm hoping that this partnership with SBID will help to drive more engagement with young designers from the businesses that will be relying on their creativity in the years to come. I'm very excited to see what our winner and finalists will achieve next."