Students are doing IT all for themselves

University of Brighton students Tom Ramirez, James Harrison-Bodle and Laz Lazarou founded the company Viper Web Design when they were unable to find work placements which were a necessary requirement for their degrees.

Although the idea of forming a company was at first "a joke", by the time exams were looming, the trio decided to further explore the idea of starting their own company.

Mr Lazarou said: "There weren't many opportunities for students like us. Most of the companies were looking for software engineers but our degree is more business-orientated.

Because of the shortage of affordable office space in the Brighton area they used the home of Mr Ramirez as their base of operations.

Mr Lazarou said: "It hadn't been done before but once we'd shown the course leader our business plan he was much more supportive."

After doing some research, the three enlisted the help of an accountant who advised them on forming a limited company on the tightest of budgets and how to manage their finances.

Unfortunately, Viper's first major contract, with a US company, was cancelled after the September 11 attacks but, despite the large number of web designers in Brighton, the team has been winning business and has received more enquiries in recent weeks.

Mr Ramirez said: "We cover everything, from helping a business decide how best to use the web to designing the site and organising their hosting requirements."

Mr Harrison-Bodle said: "The technology side of things has been relatively straightforward but learning how to run a business has been a real eye-opener."

Although they have not yet decided what will happen to Viper when they return to university in October, they are hoping to build on their success by securing maintenance contracts and, possibly, building a few sites.

They said they might employ someone to run the business for them but whatever happens, the team said the experience will help with the rest of their course.

www.viperwebdesign.co.uk