THREE Southampton Institute students are celebrating after winning a competition to design the trophies for the prestigious Daily Echo Hampshire business Awards.

Melissa Caterer, 19, Anna Sunderland and Louise Oliver, both 20, are in the second year of a BA (Hons) Corporate Communication degree course, and now have until mid-June to oversee the manufacture of the trophies.

The two designs - for the KPMG Company of the Year and the Bond Pearce Business Innovation Award - were chosen by KPMG corporate finance's manager, Mark McGowan, and Bond Pearce partner Nick Page. Mr McGowan said: "We wanted to involve the local community, and this was set as a "live" project for students, counting towards the final assessment for their degrees.

"We were really impressed with the quality of work from all those who took part, and the research they carried out to find out if their designs could be made on budget and on time." Mr Page said: "The design winners, like the eventual winners of the two awards, looked beyond the norm. They have produced trophies which themselves are truly innovative, and at the same time have linked them to Hampshire by using wood from the New Forest. They also had the eye to design something the winners will want to display in their boardrooms."

The trophies will be sculpted from walnut by Ian Brennan, official woodcarver to the Royal household for the past 11 years. Melissa, from Locks Heath, said: "We wanted our designs to look good from any angle, and we thought it was a nice touch to have the Hampshire connection carried through by the use of local wood."

Louise, from Stratford-upon-Avon, said: "For the Company of the Year, we designed an abstract figure to show the human element needed to build a successful company. We wanted the spiral for the Innovation Award to illustrate the unwrapping of an idea and building growth upwards."

Winning the competition has been a boost, according to Locks Heath-based Anna. "It will look good on our CVs when we start applying for jobs at the end of the course."

The awards will be presented at a gala dinner at Mottisfont Abbey, Romsey, on July 1.

Don't forget to pick up your 16-page business supplement in Tuesday's Echo.

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