ONE of the borough's largest private-sector employers is looking to share the wealth with the employees of tomorrow.

Bosses at Amazon, which has a sprawling fulfillment centre at Logistics North, in Over Hulton, has unveiled its £10,000 campus challenge for 2019.

And students in Bolton, falling with the catchment area for their site, could qualify for the major cash injection.

Young go-getters, competing in teams of between two and five, are being encouraged to devise their own e-commerce strategy for a chosen company or organisation.

Once teams have their candidate in place, they will be asked to demonstrate how their e-commerce skills can be deployed to enable their selected outfit's product or service can be taken to a global audience.

Paul Ashraf, the general manager at their Bolton centre, said: "“Unearthing and inspiring the next generation of e-commerce superstars is something we're hugely passionate about.

"And it's this passion that led to the creation of the Amazon Campus Challenge.

"The competition offers a great opportunity for students to test and develop their business skills in a real-life environment and I hope many students, teachers and lecturers in Bolton will sign up and get involved."

For the competition, Bolton students will have to impress a panel of UK business leaders, which has been tasked with whittling down the candidates.

Students can work on behalf of an established name, within their area, or take a punt on an eager young start-up.

The total prize fund is actually £28,000, with the winner receiving £10,000 and the runners-up dividing up the remainder.

Anne Kiem, executive director of the Small Business Charter, said: "Students can offer so much to a small business – a fresh perspective, new ideas and, of course, additional resource.

"There are 340,000 students studying business in the UK and 36 business schools that are recognised through the Small Business Charter for supporting small businesses and student enterprise.

"The Amazon Campus Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for these students to further apply and develop their skills in real-world business settings, which for many is a core element of their degree course."

Competition organisers have lined up a September launch and teams will then have until the following June to draw together their prospectuses.

Insiders at Amazon estimate that more than half of their total global sales are generated by small and medium-sized enterprises,

And among their traders, eight out of 10 are though to be currently involved in exporting their wares or expertise, notching up an estimated £2.5billion in sales over the course of a year.

Their new hub, first revealed by the Bolton News in 2017, was officially opened last year, boasting their latest robotic order-picking technology, and now employs around 1,200 people, following hot on the heels of similar fulfillment centres in Warrington and Trafford Park.

The launch followed a major recruitment campaign, which saw the web giant take on operations managres, engineers, human resources staff and IT specialists.

Those looking to get involved with the student competition, or find our more details about the rules or conditions can go online to www.amazoncampuschallenge.co.uk