The team were praised by the judges for their highly successful book “Prambles” a book of family walks, designed to bring families closer together. The team impressed the judges with their product, inspired after their market research identified a gap in the market amongst Plymouth families who wanted high quality products that encouraged family interaction.

The National Final of the Young Enterprise Innovation Awards – the pinnacle of the Company Programme supported by Edge, were held in London over the 7/8th July. The Programme enables pupils at schools and colleges across the UK aged 15-19 to set up and run their own companies, with the support and guidance of volunteer business advisers. The programme culminates with these prestigious awards, which recognise the entrepreneurial skills of the young people who took part from across the country. Students have to create a business idea and plan, implement it, advertise and promote their business and manage their customers.

Thirty-five thousand students took part in the Company Programme this year forming over 2,500 new companies which between them have achieved an estimated £2 million turnover to date. This is especially impressive against the backdrop of the current economic climate.

The runners up were Blue Moon from Woodbridge School, East Suffolk and Farr Woodcraft from Farr High School, in the Highlands. Both were highly recommended by the judges. Blue Moon produced unique bird boxes which provided ‘a slice of Suffolk’ to their customers and were painted as cottages, a village inn and stores representing the local community. They increased their success by diversifying their product offering to include personalised bird boxes and bird boxes using colours from the Ultra Violet spectrum – which appeals more to birds’ vision. Farr Woodcraft from the Highlands specialised in producing high quality wooden garden chairs and footstools in pine and cedar. The company also ran woodwork classes to increase revenue, launched a website to promote their products and developed a flat pack design enabling them to widen their customer base.

The Edge-sponsored Young Enterprise Alumni Awards were awarded to Lorraine McAleer and Steve Manley, proving the long-term benefits of practical learning experiences.

Lorraine is now involved with a company called Learning SPACE - an educational toy and resource store in Belfast. Learning SPACE stands for Specialised Products Aiding Child Education. Learning SPACE provides a place where the educational needs of children of all abilities can be met through inspiring products, for example products to help a child with autism, a child who has an interest in science or a child who is having difficulty with fractions.

Steve is the co Founder and co Managing Director of a successful multimillion pound businesses called Universal Office Products. Steve says that being involved in the Young Enterprise Company Programme whilst at school gave him the vision to set up his own business.

More information about the work of Young Enterprise and the programmes they run in schools and colleges can be found at:
www.young-enterprise.org.uk