British American Tobacco

Battle of Minds, BAT’s global business competition, is back! Focused on discovering the brightest, early-career business minds around the globe, the latest contest promises to be more competitive than ever.

This time, BAT’s Global HR team has partnered with our corporate venture arm, Btomorrow Ventures, to deliver a competition that truly demonstrates our journey towards A Better Tomorrow™.

The competition opened for registration this week and will see teams of students and recent graduates, pitching to solve an ESG-themed challenge focused on culture, farming, waste or energy.

The top prize for the winning team is a non-conditional sponsorship from BAT to implement their business idea, with up to £50,000 investment and a potential place on an accelerator programme for start-ups. The two runners-up will win up to £25,000 investment. Successful participants may also be considered for employment opportunities at BAT as Global Graduates or interns.

Participants across 27 markets are tasked with developing an innovative product and are judged on the following criteria:

• Strong original idea.
• Solid depth of research and analytics.
• Business feasibility.
• High-quality business plan.
• Presentation skills and teamwork.

Battle of Minds, being run for a third time, is a major event on the BAT calendar, as it allows the company to find and nurture some of the brightest young business minds from around the world.

Yulia Begemann, BAT’s Group Head of Talent Acquisition, says: “Battle of Minds is part of BAT’s continuous effort to attract early career talent with the right digital capabilities in a way that resonates with them. We are challenging those who take part in the competition to contribute to our journey to deliver A Better Tomorrow.”

Battle of Minds also presents another way in which BAT can further its commitment to its ESG principles and accelerate its business transformation. Lisa Smith, MD, Btomorrow Ventures, said: “Btomorrow Ventures is thrilled to be leveraging our amazing global network to find world class solutions that help our planet. I can’t wait to meet these innovators and see how we can support them.”

ESG is a key driver of BAT’s transformation journey to build A Better Tomorrow™ for all stakeholders and is at the core of our business.

Speaking about this year’s ESG focus, Jennie Galbraith, BAT’s Head of Environment, Social and Governance, said: “ESG remains front and centre of everything that we do as a business. We understand our stakeholders want to know how we are addressing our key sustainability challenges and our journey in delivering A Better Tomorrow. Battle of Minds will not only help us find innovative ESG solutions, but it will also provide a platform for these early career talents to contribute to the work we are doing in this area.”

Interested in taking part, or know someone who might like to participate in Battle of Minds? Visit competition.bat-battleofminds.com.