Student business idea wins 1st runner-up spot at the Big Idea Challenge 2025
Six NewVIc Sixth Form T Level Business students, Vincent, Jasdeep, Amar, Tomi, Rayhan, and Funmi pitched their business idea ‘PermaShoes’ at the 2025 Big Idea Challenge - a startup competition for young people.
Six NewVIc Sixth Form T Level Business students, Vincent, Jasdeep, Amar, Tomi, Rayhan, and Funmi pitched their business idea ‘PermaShoes’ at the 2025 Big Idea Challenge - a startup competition for young people.
Developed by the London Metropolitan University, the annual Big Idea Challenge aims to get young people into enterprise and entrepreneurship, encouraging them to identify business opportunities which provide solutions to real world problems. On 7 May 2025, the winners of the Challenge were revealed. NewVIc’s Sixth Form students beat Hampstead Fine Arts College and Barnet and Southgate College to secure first runner up spot.
PermaShoes is a sustainable and convenient shoe subscription service aimed at reducing waste and promoting affordability in footwear. The service features three subscription tiers, each offering access to different levels of shoes, with the added benefit of returning worn pairs for new or refurbished ones. As part of their pitch, students created a promo video to share with the student community and via social media platforms to secure as many votes as possible.
Historically, NewVIc Sixth Form students have had a strong track record at the competition. In 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 they have won the people’s choice category and in 2019 they were crowned winners and won the Grand Champion award with their business idea – Bracelet Alert – a stylish bracelet that can be used to test for date-rape drugs in drinks.
Vincent, NewVIc T Level Business student, said:
“I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience and found it both exciting and rewarding. Together we collaborated to come up with a unique product that tackled a real-world issue.
After several brainstorming sessions, we developed PermaShoes, a sustainable and convenient shoe subscription service aimed at reducing waste and promoting affordability in footwear.
Initially, we presented our idea at college, where it received the most votes enabling us to progress to the regional finals at the NatWest Conference Centre. Presenting in front of other schools and a larger audience was nerve-wracking, but our preparation and confidence in our product helped us secure second place, winning a £65 voucher each! This experience not only improved my public speaking skills, but also significantly developed my teamwork skills, as we had to communicate, compromise, and support each other throughout the entire process.”
Kemi, Teacher of Business and project lead at NewVIc, commented:
“Our second year T Level Business students have clearly proved that you can do anything as long as you put your mind to it. We’re proud that our students achieved an impressive second place in this year’s competition. The team — Vincent, Jasdeep, Amar, Tomi, Rayhan, and Funmi — demonstrated outstanding teamwork and determination throughout the challenge.
They supported one another through each stage of the competition, particularly the demanding task of creating their pitch video to win over both the public and the judges. We were told that the team narrowly missed out on first place by just one vote — a remarkable achievement.
Congratulations to all the students who took part — you’ve done us proud!”
The Big Idea Challenge has allowed our students to develop the skills employers look for including; leadership, resilience, collaboration, creativity and emotional intelligence. Students have gone a step further by developing their skills to become future employers by creating their own business ideas!
Watch their Big Idea Challenge pitch here.