Apprentice-style project sees Middlesex students help businesses solve challenges  

One of the clients was the main contractor on a £33 million construction project to deliver a new waste transfer station

Middlesex University students have been helping McLaughlin & Harvey, who are behind the construction of a major waste transfer station in Brent Cross, North London, as part of an Apprentice-style consultancy module project. 

Sixty final year business students worked as consultants with 10 businesses and organisations, including the construction firm McLaughlin & Harvey and were tasked with finding solutions to various real issues, matching the format on the hit BBC television show.

Clients met with the students at a launch event on the Hendon campus in North London. Students designed and presented a large poster showing how they would tackle the dilemma faced by the particular company or organisation, before they each individually submitted a 2,500-word project report.

After being approached to take part, McLaughlin & Harvey shared that they wanted to explore different ways of engaging with the local community and invited students to the site at Geron Way, Brent Cross.  

McLaughlin & Harvey is the main contractor on the £33 million construction project delivering a new 9000 sqm waste transfer station for the North London Waste Authority. The new waste transfer station, led by the London Borough of Barnet, will manage waste and recycling for Barnet and six other North London boroughs.

“While we initially hoped to gain fresh, innovative ideas on engaging communities, we were genuinely impressed by the level of detail and practicality within the students’ proposals. The students fully embraced the project, including visiting our site, engaging with senior team members, and gaining first-hand insight into industry challenges. Their enthusiasm, commitment, and depth of understanding stood out throughout. They clearly articulated the challenges they observed and, importantly, put forward well-considered solutions—many of which we are keen to explore further in our current project.” 

Michael Fong, Social Value Project Lead at McLaughlin & Harvey

Ayanne Oliveria, who is on the BSc Business Management course, said that the students focused on trying to promote the importance of recycling and the benefits to the environment with the new waste transfer station. “It gave me a very valuable insight into a real project,” said Ayanne.“It’s improved my teamwork and communication, and I gained real life experience of researching and problem-solving different issues.” 

Sumayo Ahmed, another BSc Business Management student, said: “It was quite challenging having a real-world business problem but at the same time it was a fun and amazing experience.” 

The module is focused on employability with students becoming ready for future careers by gaining skills in areas such as leadership, learning communication, technological agility and entrepreneurial mindset. 

Another team of students worked with BOOST Barnet, an employment, skills, and digital inclusion service delivered by Barnet Homes in partnership with Barnet Council. 

The students were tasked with coming up with ideas for a low-cost digital platform that could act as a database for a digital inclusion project.  

Georgina Brown, from BOOST Barnet, said: “Overall, the reports were very useful. They provided a range of perspectives and demonstrated good understanding of the challenges we face around information management and digital inclusion. Some students produced particularly strong implementation-focused recommendations, which are directly applicable to our service needs.” 

A team of students also advised an AI recruitment company called Lumenai which helps graduates find work with skills-based tests and wanted help with marketing and understanding their demographic. 

Max Hardie, a Business Management and Finance BA honours student who worked with Lumenai, said: “The real word experience was a big tick as well as the chance to be quite vocal. It really gave us an inkling into thinking you’ve finished your degree and this is what you are going to be using it for.” 

A newly formed charity, Rooted in Barnet CIC, which will deliver community-focused initiatives in the borough, sought help from students with a broad range of challenges around marketing strategy, finances and business structure. 

Fahad Tanveer, who is studying Business Management, said: “It was very tough but somehow, we managed to complete the task within a tight deadline. Everybody was surprised that we managed to come up with so many solutions in such a short space of time. It has really helped with communication skills as well as getting experience of leading on projects.” 

The consultancy project module will be expanded in the new academic year with more organisations involved. 

Sabrina Akbar, a Senior Lecturer in International Management and Innovation at Middlesex University who led the project, said: “Students began to feel that their work genuinely mattered, that they were really contributing to a real business. There were no more imaginary companies, this was genuinely something they had to solve with real pressure. And it was great that they could help support local businesses and organisations in North London in the process as well.”  

Learn more about the new waste transfer station. The new waste transfer station forms a part of the wider Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme, which you can learn more about via this website. 

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