The Alchemy Exchange - Turning Student Consultancy Opportunities into a Good Student Experience

This paper describes the journey undertaken by Sheffield Business School, in implementing a student consultancy unit as an extra-curricular activity and the positive and negative issues that it has faced. It is a case study which will take the reader from conception through to a functioning student consultancy service. The Alchemy Exchange has established itself as part of the overall student offering, alongside course based consultancy while making itself part of the Business School’s business engagement offer. The case study provides an insight into how an extra curricular activity can be used as a way to provide a cost effective consultancy service to business, while providing students with a real life learning experience for which they are paid, supervised by an academic and transferring knowledge.