Thomas Kingston

Thomas Kingston proved himself to be one of Britain's brightest young business brains when, as part of a University of Sussex student team, he won the UK final of a global business contest. 

Thomas graduates today (Friday) with a 2:1 in Business Management Studies with Contemporary European Studies. 

He describes the moment in 2009 when he and three fellow Sussex students were crowned UK champions of the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) Global Business Challenge as his "fondest memory" of university life. 

He says: "Representing the University of Sussex and the UK in the global final in Singapore was a fantastic achievement and incredible honour to me." 

Thomas's flair for enterprise also saw him become involved with the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team, which promotes socially aware entrepreneurship. His involvement in one of the SIFE projects, 'Community Opportunity', aimed at supporting self-sustainability in Malawi, led to Thomas running a half-marathon. 

Thomas is currently working as a teacher at the EF (English First) Summer School in Wiltshire while he plans his next career move. With business consultancy experience under his belt, thanks to the competition, Thomas can afford to be optimistic. 

He says: "I'm on the road of self-improvement. It's true that the good jobs will be difficult to get, but you only have to look at history to see how people have succeeded against even tougher odds - and that will be my inspiration."