UCLan students use business nous to set up nightlife website

24 November 2016

New one-stop-shop nightlife website is hit with students

Three entrepreneurial students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) have set up their own business developing a “night out equivalent of Just Eat” that they hope will take students by storm.

Impulse is a website set up by third year business management students Will Taylor and Dan Collins along with second year games development student Kev Strachand.  The trio have pooled their student loans and most of their time and energy into developing the digital platform that allows Preston revellers to check what local bars and clubs have on offer each evening in one place instead of having to trawl through each individual’s websites and social media feeds.  The website has already attracted more than 700 visitors in the first two weeks since going live on the 4 November.

Third year student Dan, 20, said: “We often find ourselves in a bar wondering where to go next, what bar has a good drinks deal that night or what club night is the best one to go to.  That’s where the idea came from, to develop a really accessible website that will tell you where to go next with no hassle.”

"We’re in the right place to develop this website because we’re also the target audience. We meet students on a daily basis, get regular feedback to improve the website and can build up trust with the local student community."

The students are billing it as “a website built by students for students” and have already registered the company and bought a domain name.  They are using their course knowledge to develop this business with Will leading on marketing, Kev on design and Dan on the overall business strategy.

Will, 24, commented: “We’re in the right place to develop this website because we’re also the target audience.  We meet students on a daily basis, get regular feedback to improve the website and can build up trust with the local student community.”

Plans are already in place to create an app to complement the website and the team is now setting up meetings with local bars in Preston to get their support for the new business.

Games developer 27-year-old Kev added: “We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved.  It’s only early days but we’ve had some great feedback and everything we’ve done has been on a shoe-string budget.  We set this up in my bedroom and lived off pasta to fund it but it’s been worth it.”

For more information about Impulse find them on Twitter @ImpulseNorth or search for the company’s name on Facebook.