NEWS
MANDIRA’S KITCHEN MEETS SURREY BUSINESS SCHOOL Located at the Silent Pool in the Surrey Hills, award-winning Mandira’s Kitchen has created its own magic since being founded in 2019 by Mandira Sarkar. After 17 years as a management consultant, she saw an opportunity to realise her dream to share her passion for Indian premium cuisine. The Albury Estate agreed to refurbish a 400 year-old cow shed to set up a manufacturing food kitchen with an outlet for prepared meals delivered nationwide. With the onset of Covid, Mandira pivoted the business away from catering and events to expand online which placed an increased importance on social media and the website to advertise its offering. However, like many SMEs, the company lacked the resources to develop its digital marketing sufficiently. So Mandira’s Kitchen was delighted to participate in the Surrey Business School MSc Corporate Challenge last Spring.
Here, MSc student teams worked with local companies to evaluate current digital marketing activity and then identify challenges which they can manage for the businesses. Mandira’s Kitchen supported two teams with one focused on social media and the other focused on website design / SEO. Initially, the teams evaluated the current context of the business including their digital marketing activity and then discussed findings with the company stakeholders. Based on stakeholder feedback, the teams executed specific tasks. For social media, a team managed posting activity on Instagram and Facebook channels while increasing engagement. For the website, the other team redesigned the website and executed an e-commerce migration to a new hosting platform creating material cost savings.
EM3 LEADS REGIONAL RESPONSE TO THE GLOBAL JET ZERO CHALLENGE Enterprise M3 LEP has brought together key stakeholders of a newly formed Jet Zero Cluster at Farnborough Airport, in Hampshire, to identify regional strengths in three important areas for greener aviation. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), advanced materials and airport operations including hydrogen fuel storage, are crucial in meeting the Government’s Jet Zero strategy – a UK-wide plan for achieving net zero in aviation by 2050.
Sue Littlemore, Joint Managing Director for EM3, who chaired the workshop said, “There is a tremendous amount of fantastic work going on based in and around Farnborough, and resonating out across the rest of the EM3 area and beyond, which we should shine a light on. “The Farnborough Aerospace cluster
“The students were amazing for our business; through interactive discussions and research, they offered new ideas, evaluated challenges such as the website and identified cost-effective solutions. It was well-worth the experience!” Mandira Sarkar commented. Surrey Business School is now looking for more local businesses interested to leverage the digital marketing talents of MSc students this Spring. If you would like to find out more about student-based projects, please visit the website www.InnoMatters.co.uk and get in touch if interested.
clearly has great strengths in research, innovation and business development and we look forward to working with the range of partners to lead the way in ensuring the aviation sector meets the Jet Zero targets. The Farnboroughbased regional aerospace sector is recognised as a major contributor to those goals.” If you would like to know more information about EM3’s work with the Jet Zero Cluster please email information@enterprisem3.org.uk
The workshop was the second EM3 Jet Zero Strategy event, with representatives from aerospace businesses, trade bodies, local authorities and universities – all part of the internationally renowned Farnborough-based aerospace cluster.
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