BUSINESS students from Portsmouth have been learning from the experts.
The students from St John’s College in Southsea went to a business breakfast and learnt all about growth from the head of operations at online sports retailer Wiggle, best known for its cycling products.
Mathew Boschi was joined by Wiggle’s marketing manager Damian Parker and together they explained to students what it is like working for the multinational company.
The business started out in 1920 as Butlers Cycles in North End. In 1999 Butlers went online, and three years later closed the shop and operated solely on the internet.
Now the firm has customers all over the world, is worth £187m, and operates from North Harbour.
Student Ed Hardy, 17, said: ‘The meeting was interesting and insightful – I found it especially helpful, not just for my business studies work but also in preparation for our school cycling tour in the summer.’
The Wiggle pair also talked about marketing, international markets, and competition.
Jane Durow, who teaches business studies, said ‘It is always inspirational to hear how a small local business can transform into a multinational company.
‘It is important for students to see that it is not just big business such as Microsoft who are succeeding – and all business start small.’
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