Students from Farnborough Hill School have been crowned Best Overall Company at the Young Enterprise Hampshire and IOW Showcase County Final.
The final, held at Ordnance Survey Headquarters, Southampton on the 25th Aril celebrated students who have set up and run a company over the academic year as part of the HSBC supported Young Enterprise Company Programme. Students have made all the decisions about their business, from deciding the company name and product, to creating a business plan, managing their finances and selling their products.
Five teams from schools and colleges across Hampshire and IOW competed for prizes across many categories. The winning team (Purrrfect Paw Post from Farnborough Hill School) and the Runners up (PEAK from Christ The King College) will go on to represent Hampshire and IOW at the South East Final at the Guildford Cathedral on the 13th June.
The winning team, Purrfect Paw Post, created a pet treat postal service, supplying dedicated pet lovers monthly high end treats. The team said that they were “thrilled to have won and to be going to the Regional finals!”
The companies were judged by:
David Pollard- FSB
Raja Ali- IBD Partnership
Toni Sheppard- The Westbay Club
Nick Giles- Ordnance Survey
Chief Superintendent and Head of Intelligence and Analysis for Hampshire Constabulary, David Powell, attended as Key Note speaker. David gave an excellent talk on the “business of life” and made an inspiring speech regarding the transferable skills needed in enterprise, policing and wider life. David demonstrated from his own life experience how the skills learnt through The Young Enterprise Company Programme will be essential to becoming successful in life.
Bracey Parish, Regional Manager of Young Enterprise in the South East, said: “I would like to congratulate the students all the students involved. It’s the ultimate measure of many months of hard work, representing their creativity, resilience and business acumen – I wish the top two teams the best of luck for the next round and beyond.
Mike Labell, long term YE volunteer said: “ It was a really inspiring night – the enthusiasm and dedication of all the teams was infectious. They are truly amazing young people and will have demonstrated to the judges just what a small group of teenagers can achieve. Good luck to the two teams for the South East Finals, I will be there cheering them on! It is a privilege to be involved with YE”.
All the judges said how much fun it was to be involved and Raja Ali of the IBD Partnership said “how inspiring each and every team was in their innovative ideas”.
The student companies competing in the North Hampshire Area Showcase Final were:
Auctus Salesian College
PopOn Churchers College
Peak Christ the King College
Purrfect Paws Post Farnborough Hill
KESCO King Edward VI School
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For more information contact Young Enterprise on 020 7330 9470 or email victoria.leese@y-e.org.uk
To find out more about Company Programme’s impact read out 2015-16 Company Programme Impact Report.
About Young Enterprise
- Young Enterprise is the UK’s leading enterprise and financial education charity that empowers young people to harness their personal and business skills
- Every year we work directly with over 250,000 young people, and train 3,200 teachers in both enterprise and financial education, with the help of more than 6,000 volunteers and 3,500 businesses
- We believe that the potential of the UK’s young people is unlimited, and an academic education on its own is not enough. Our mission is to empower young people to discover, develop and celebrate their skills and potential
- Through our hands-on employability and financial education programmes and resources and teacher training, we want to eradicate youth unemployment, help young people realise their potential beyond education and empower a generation to learn, to work and to live
- Founded in 1962, we are part of global network JA-YE operating in 120 countries