North West students to compete in the young enterprise regional finals
Students participating in the Young Enterprise Company Programme, supported by HSBC, from the North West will be competing at the North West Young Enterprise Regional Final at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) on Wednesday.
Nine student run businesses from nine schools and colleges will be going head to head across five categories – Best Report, Best Trade Stand, Best Presentation, Customer Service and Creativity – with a prize for each. The best overall company will go on to represent the North West at the UK Company of the Year final in London on 6 July.
Young Enterprise works with over 250,000 students every year and thousands of young people aged 15-19 from across the country have set up and run a real business or social enterprise over the academic year with Company Programme - Young Enterprise’s flagship enterprise education programme supported nationally by HSBC. 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.
Products created and sold by North West Young Enterprise companies this year include money management and fire safety books, origami products and virtual reality headsets, alongside car accessory packs and a student jobs website. The companies will be judged by colleagues from Sage, MyFresh and Manpower.
Young Enterprise research shows Company Programme participants develop key employability skills and a longitudinal study of Company Programme alumni has shown that in the two years following their company’s closure, 95% are in education, employment or training [EET] – 7% higher than the national rate of 88%.
Michael Mercieca, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise, said: “The North West Final marks the third stage in a national competition to find this year’s Best Young Enterprise Company; the winners will go on to compete in the UK Final in London on July 6th and could potentially represent the UK in Brussels at the European final.
“It's the ultimate measure of many months of hard work from the students, representing their creativity, resilience and business acumen. You don’t get this stuff from a text book and we are greatly encouraged by our research which shows that 95% of Company alumni go on to education, employment or training - 7% higher than the national average of 88%.”
"It's the ultimate measure of many months of hard work from the students, representing their creativity, resilience and business acumen."
Ian Stuart, HSBC UK CEO, said: “We’re delighted to support Company Programme with HSBC volunteers working with students across the country. It’s fantastic to see students deal with real life business decisions and develop employability skills such as creativity, resilience and communication.”
UCLan hosted the Lancashire heat of the competition in May. The schools competing in the North West Young Enterprise Company Programme Final are:
- Cash Cows, money management game from Nelson Tomlinson School, Cumbria
- Technichs, car accessories pack from St Nicholas Catholic High School, Cheshire
- Job Scouts, recruitment website from St Ambrose College, Altrincham
- Salutem, fire safety book from Blessed trinity RC College, Lancashire
- Memoreads, foreign language education from Christleton High School, Chester
- InStock technologies, virtual reality products from Stockport Grammar School, Stockport
- 5 Degrees, mobile phone covers from Archbishop Blanch School, Liverpool
- Marbleous, bespoke products from Our Lady’s Catholic High School, Preston Lancashire
- Fold, origami and seasonal products from Cockermouth School, Cumbria