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An idea for a device that stops drinks getting spiked has won the Fox’s Lair 2019 – СʪÃÃÊÓƵ Leicester (СʪÃÃÊÓƵ)’s biggest student business competition.

GUARDIT, a tamper-proof lid that can be fitted over bottles and glasses, was inspired by the experience of student Emily Kirby, whose drink was spiked on a night out.




“I was thinking about what we could do for a business idea and I just thought about my getting spiked,” she said. “It was horrible and I didn’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

She and team mates Georgia King, Oliver Knee and William Kowanec designed and developed GUARDIT and pitched the idea to a team of judges or Foxes made up of real-life business leaders who give up their time to support the contest.

This week, GUARDIT was announced the winner of the competition, which challenges all first-year students taking a business module to come up with a new business and pitch it to the Foxes.

Judges were impressed by its simplicity and its mission to help others. “Pitching was quite nerve-wracking,” said Oliver. “We got a grilling but it has been a good experience.” “I can’t believe we’ve won!” added Will. “It’s brilliant.”

The GUARDIT team won goodies courtesy of the judges and received a £1,000 cheque from brand agency Champions UK, based in Leicestershire. The GUARDIT team said they would consider developing the project for real if they were able to secure funding.

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Andrew Nicholson, module leader for Fox’s Lair, said the skills they learned while coming up with their ideas would stand them in good stead for internships and jobs.

He added: “They get to work with real life businesses and have their ideas listened to. It is a great opportunity to have in their first year before they’ve even started looking at a placement.”

Second place went to Tasty, an idea for a mobile food truck delivering healthy food to officer workers. The team was Joshua Hutchings, Aleksandra Zuzanna Pawlikowska, Yaameen Rahman, Chhandni Rajput and Kamil Sarniak.

Third place was E-Card, which replaces swipe cards for university students with a mobile phone app devised by Dominik Urban Noert Walasek, Ali Haq and Simona Amoah.

John Hayes of brand agency Champions UK has been a supporter of Fox’s Lair for 10 years. He said: “This competition gives the students a real taste of what they need to know to succeed in business. There was such a mix of ideas this year and it is always a difficult job to choose the winners.”

Some of the students were aiming to develop their ideas as real businesses, including Parallel, which matches jobseekers with opportunities based on personality tests.