Two 21 year-old women take a giant stride towards becoming internet entrepreneurs.

Added: (Thu Oct 22 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Two 2009 University of Manchester graduates have launched their specialist student website www.unitown.co.uk in Leeds, London, Loughborough, Manchester and Nottingham today.

Suzanna Chaplin and Fiona Bateman were inspired to create Unitown after realising no single website gave them all they needed to better manage their student budgets.

Uniquely, Unitown combines a bookshop, voucher supermarket and ticket and events office on one easy-to-use website. Primarily for the UK’s 2.3 million Higher Education students, anyone can register and benefit from its free money making and saving opportunities.

The bookshop works in three distinct ways: you can sell textbooks, buy cheap ones from other students and download ones for free. Unitown is one of only a few UK websites that gives its members the opportunity to download and print out a book in its entirety for free.

The voucher supermarket features a huge range of discounts on everything from pizzas to broadband. And unlike any other website, Unitown has exclusive student deals simply unavailable elsewhere online.

Suzanna Chaplin, Unitown’s Co-founder, commented:

“Being the first to provide money-saving deals customised specifically for students is one of the most satisfying parts of this enterprise.”

The tickets and events office comprises tickets and info for local gigs, clubbing, cinema and theatre. It gives students the chance to keep their fingers on the pulse of their town’s social scene. It also gives them plenty of opportunity to spend the money they’ve saved elsewhere on Unitown.

Fiona Bateman, Unitown’s Co-founder, commented:

“Whilst we have a very serious mission to help students better manage their budgets, it’s important to help them have as much fun as possible too.”

After securing the involvement of the world’s best-known brands such as Virgin and Pizza Hut, Suzanna and Fiona approached leading online marketeers Freemax Media to build and manage the website.

Paul Clifton, Ventures & Investments Director at Freemax Media, commented:

“Suzanna and Fiona came to us with more than a vision; they came having already secured the backing of big name brands. We were impressed with their business plan and were delighted to invest.”

Unitown aims to have 25,000 registered members by the end of 2009. They also aim to populate the site with more offers from household brands.

Unitown is the first of many online businesses planned by Suzanna and Fiona. If you’re interested in becoming a member of their first venture or just want to find out what the deal is with Unitown, please go to www.unitown.co.uk and click register.