Profitunity!

Terms & conditions

1. This competition consists of student teams selected by Ernst & Young LLP (“Ernst & Young”) from participating universities across the UK competing to raise as much money as possible, in the most impressive way possible, for The Prince’s Trust. Each team will receive £500 start-up funds to assist it with its fund-raising, which must be completed (and all raised funds collected) by 31st March 2010. Furthermore, each team will be guided by business advisors from Ernst & Young and The Prince’s Trust and assisted by way of progress workshops held during the course of the competition. Further details are set out in the Competition Brief by which all participants are required to abide, a copy of which will be provided at the launch of Profitunity! in December 2009.
2. Applications will be accepted from 1st October 2009. all the members of each team applying must be registered in full-time university education in the UK from 1st September 2009 to 31st May 2010, and must not be an employee or agent of Ernst & Young or The Prince’s Trust, or a member of such persons’ families, or in any way otherwise connected with the organisation and/or running of this competition.
3. To be considered for entry into the competition, all applicants in a team must enter their name, contact details and answer all questions on the application form in full. Only applications received by Ernst & Young before 5pm on 6th November 2009 (‘the deadline’) will be valid and considered for entry into the competition.
4. Participating universities include University of Bath, University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Durham, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, Imperial, University of Leeds, University of Loughborough, LSE, University of Manchester, University of Oxford, University of Nottingham, UCL, University of Warwick.
5. Only one application per team is permitted. A team must consist of between 4 and 6 students from the same university. Individuals cannot be part of more than one team.
6. Applicants can be from any degree discipline but must demonstrate they meet Ernst & Young’s academic criteria. Furthermore, applicants acknowledge that Ernst & Young shall assess each applicant/team on the merits of their application and shall, at its discretion, determine whether an applicant/team shall be selected to participate in this competition.
7. Once all applications have been received, these will be reviewed by Ernst & Young and the Prince’s Trust. If more than one team enters from a University, all teams who have entered from that University will be invited to attend a pre-selection event later in November, where each team has the opportunity to pitch their business idea to three business experts from Ernst & Young. Details about the date, time, location and format of the each university’s selection event will be communicated by email to all applicant teams by 11th November.
8. One team will proceed to the main competition from each University. The successful team from each University who will proceed to the main competition will be chosen at the selection event. The judges’ decision is final.
9. Successful applicants will be invited to attend the launch of the competition and, unless agreed in writing otherwise, by accepting the invitation to the launch each selected applicant will accept and confirm their participation in the competition.
10. By applying to enter this competition (and, if accepted by Ernst & Young as an entrant, by agreeing to participate in this competition), applicants agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
11. The launch of this competition shall take place on 4th December 2009 and the final shall take place in April 2010. Both events will take place in London. The reasonable expenses of team members will be reimbursed as detailed in the Competition Brief.
12. A panel of judges from Ernst & Young and The Prince’s Trust will choose a single winning team at the final, the exact date of which will be confirmed to participating teams. The selection criteria for choosing the winning team will be set out in the Competition Brief.
13. There is a cash prize available for the winning team. The value of this prize is linked to the value of money raised, and will be communicated to competing teams in due course. This prize is non-substitutable, non-transferable and no alternatives are available. The prize will be divided equally among the team members.
14. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
15. The winning team members will be notified in person by 16th April 2010 and must confirm acceptance of the prize within 28 days, failing which the prize will be forfeited. The winning team members should allow 28 days from acceptance to receive their prize.
16. By entering this competition participants confirm that all the information submitted in their application and throughout the competition is accurate and true.
17. By entering this competition, participants agree that Ernst & Young and/or The Prince’s Trust may, if they win, publish their names, university and details of their fund-raising on Ernst & Young or Prince’s Trust websites, in the press or other literature debriefing about their experience. Winners agree to make themselves available for debrief by Ernst & Young and/or the Prince’s Trust upon reasonable notice.
18. All monies raised during the competition will be donated to The Prince’s Trust (registered charity number 1079675).
19. No responsibility can be accepted for application forms lost or delayed for any reason. Furthermore, Ernst & Young assumes no responsibility for damages, losses or injuries of participating teams, arising from their own chosen fund-raising activities, save that Ernst & Young does not seek to exclude liability for death or personal injury arising from its own negligence.
20. Ernst & Young reserves the right to cancel or amend the terms of this competition without notice in the event of a major catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, earthquake or any actual, anticipated or alleged breach of any applicable law or regulation, or any other similar event.
21. By submitting details when applying for this competition, applicants agree that Ernst & Young may use these details for the purpose of administering this competition. If an applicant has ticked the relevant box on the application form they agree that Ernst & Young may also send them other information about Ernst & Young and its graduate recruitment scheme from time to time, but in no event will such an applicant’s personal data be released to any third party unless required by law.
22. This competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law.
23. The promoters of this competition are Ernst & Young LLP, whose principal place of business is at 1 More London Place, London SE1 2AF and the Prince’s Trust, 18 Park Square East, London NW1 4LH.