Varun Budhiraja (Business Studies, 2015, Lonsdale) explains how his specialism in Entrepreneurship and Marketing changed his career expectations.

"Hailing from a very small town in India, Lancaster University was truly an amazing opportunity and experience for me.

Even before I joined university I was clear what I wanted to do after I graduated. This is usually something that confuses a lot of students, but I knew that I would go back to India and join my 35-year-old family business in fashion footwear manufacturing. What I didn’t know was what my experience at Lancaster had to contribute. I was an average student, but an avid learner. My team and I were the runner ups in Start Up Lancaster, I participated in & founded societies and was active in all the extracurricular activities my college had to offer including the SCR. Having experienced all of this, when I returned to India I could not accept the established business that I was asked to join. As the only 3rd generation member of the family business, I felt I had little to contribute and no sense of ownership.

Instead, I started a new project that was completely the opposite of what I thought I was wanting to do for the previous 20 years of my life. During my time in the UK I saw the importance and regulation of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for the workforce. Safety footwear, safety gloves, safety goggles, hard hats etc. were very promising for India as a developing country in 2015. I started reading up on it and started visiting manufacturing facilities to understand more to launch my brand in India.

Today after almost three years into this project, we are growing rapidly in terms of market share and product portfolio. We have won many awards including ‘Most Innovative Enterprise’. ‘Excellence in Quality Leadership’ and ‘India’s Best PPE Brand'. We are collaborating with American and Chinese manufacturers along with our own facilities in India to innovate and offer the best range of PPE to the Middle Eastern and South African markets in addition to India.

Life in Lancaster made me capable and motivated enough to build a life after Lancaster and that is something I will cherish for the rest of my life."