Beach Break decline Dragon's offer

Fans of Dragons’ Den may remember student festival organisers Celia Norowzian and Ian Forshew, who gave an impressive pitch and won a deal with Peter Jones. The confident duo sought investment to turn their Beach Break Live event into a major date on the student calendar.

In an audacious move, the couple actually turned down Jones’ offer before the show was broadcast. Viewers will have been unaware, but a partnership with event and travel specialist Outgoing Ltd, had already been agreed.

The show went out in October, but during the summer Beach Break Live had received some key accolades – including a nomination for Best New Festival at The UK Festival Awards.

This had created interest in the music industry and attracted Outgoing, who are involved with the highly-regarded Bestival event and sell student party packages across Europe.

Celia Norowzian says: “Peter totally understood and accepts that this is a great opportunity for us. When we were frank and open with him regarding alternative options, Peter personally advised us to pursue this opportunity further.

“Peter is delighted to see young entrepreneurs pursuing their dream and agrees that this opportunity should be better for us at the current stage of development.

“We’re going to be working with some of the biggest pros in the industry. After a lot of thought and debate, we decided that the opportunity to work with the people responsible for events such as Bestival and Snow Bombing was simply too good to refuse.”

Peter Jones says: “I wish them all the very best. There are many elements that come together to make the right business deal, and this clearly looks just as good going its own way. We shall keep in touch and they have my number if they need advice.”

The Student Cruise

Reach Students is delighted to be official marketing partner for The Student Cruise.

If you are a brand or agency interested in getting involved, get in touch with Luke. There are numerous opportunities, from the conventional to the creative.

The Student Cruise is two separate ocean parties taking place this October, one journeying from Portsmouth to St Malo, the other from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

Yes that’s right – a proper cruise on a proper ship featuring 3,000 proper students and a packed agenda of partying and quality entertainment.

The ship’s main stage is being filled by DJs from top house music brand Slinky.

Comedy acts are being delivered by Avalon, who represent the cream of UK comedy talent – everyone from Frank Skinner and Jenny Éclair to Dave Gorman, Harry Hill and Al Murray.

Brands already involved include Red Bull and Ladbrokes Poker.

Already thousands of students have registered an interest in The Student Cruise and media attention has begun.

Next week The Student Cruise begins an on-campus marketing campaign to promote the event.

To find out more about the cruises themselves sail over to The Student Cruise website.

To speak to Luke about marketing opportunities call 0870 199 6495 or email via the Reach Students homepage.

As graduate organisers Ian and David say: “It’s the biggest boat journey since Noah and his ark”.

Spotlight on: student leisure time

A massive £1,800 a year is spent by students on their spare time activities. According to MORI, over a third of the student budget gets spent on entertainment and NUSSL (the trading arm of the National Union of Students) say the student leisure market is worth £1.6 billion a year, with students spending an average of 18 hours on leisure activities a week. So what are they doing in all this spare time?

Half of students (46%) go clubbing every week, while watching bands is as popular as ever with 79% gigging once a month or more. Students are big filmgoers - 92% visit the cinema at least once a month. They are also big consumers of video, DVD and games. Alex Sparks, managing director of Blockbuster UK, explains why his company visited over 40 freshers' fairs this year: "Targeting students is a natural fit for Blockbuster. Students are not only a major section of the current movie and gaming market, they also represent the future consumers and influencers of in-home entertainment in the UK"

All students have free access to high-speed internet in their university libraries and, increasingly, in their accommodation. They make good use of it, checking email every day, using message boards and chat rooms, and visiting mostly entertainment-related sites for humour and gaming. In fact, a survey by NetValue found that a third of all those gaming online are students.

No longer are they relying on shared computers in university facilities. At a typical institution like University College Worcester, where the cost of living is average, a staggering 91% of students own their own computers, a third of them laptops.

Sport is obviously an integral part of the student experience, and students have access to a phenomenal range of choice. Wednesday afternoons are reserved for sports activities in universities across the UK and BUSA (British Universities Sports Association) claims 1.2 million students and 3,200 teams take part.

When it comes to favourite leisure venues, as a rule the students' union is number one for first year students, who often spend their early months getting familiar with their immediate surroundings. But beyond the first year students start venturing off campus, spending equal amounts of time in pubs, clubs and cinemas (and many of them are regulars at pool clubs, karting tracks and bowling alleys).

It should not be forgotten that, to pay for all this activity, many students have to take part-time jobs. Some 43% work up to 29 hours a week.