Entrepreneurs from Pipers Corner School, Buckinghamshire, have won the Young Enterprise Company of the Year Award at the Young Enterprise national final.
The team will now go on to represent the UK in France at the European final with their winning product, Bathe, bath infusion teabags made using wholly sustainable materials: Epsom salt, natural dyes, oats, scented oils and dried plant leaves.
The final, held last month in London, celebrated the top 14 student companies established and run over a single academic year as part of the Young Enterprise Company Programme.
Young Enterprise is a national charity working to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and confidence required to succeed in the changing world of work.
As a team we’ve grown so close together and Young Enterprise has been an incredible platform to do that
For this year’s competition, students across the country set up almost 1,000 companies and made all the key decisions, from deciding the company name and product to creating a business plan, managing finances and selling product.
Teams were judged against criteria including innovation, sales, marketing, financial performance, social impact and teamwork. As a result of their performance, all 11 of the girls involved in the winning team have been offered a full scholarship at the University of Buckinghamshire, to study on the BSc Business Enterprise Venture Creation Programme.
“Young Enterprise has been such an incredible experience,” said Bathe team member, Harriette Evans. “As a team we’ve grown so close together and Young Enterprise has been an incredible platform to do that. For the future we expect to go bigger and better and we can’t wait to see what comes.”
Young Enterprise claims research shows that, in the two years following the programme, 94% of Company Programme participants are in education, employment or training, 5% higher than the national rate.
Michael Mercieca, chief executive of Young Enterprise, said: “Winning the Company Programme Final represents an inspirational journey with many months of hard work, teamwork, creativity and resilience. The experience and skills students from every team will have developed will stay with them for many years to come.”
