Business-minded students from six schools across the Bolton, Wigan and Salford areas competed in the Young Enterprise regional finals at Bolton College.
Business-minded students from six schools across the Bolton, Wigan and Salford areas competed in the Young Enterprise regional finals at Bolton College.
Mini ‘Alan Sugars’ and ‘Hilary Deveys’ from the North West presented their entrepreneurial efforts to the Young Enterprise judges at the Deane Road campus.
The Young Enterprise initiative encourages students, aged between 14 to 19, to set up their own company during the academic year. Throughout this period, the future business heads have been developing products or services to sell, raising capital, marketing their company and keeping their own accounts.
Successful schools on the day included: Winstanley College based in Wigan, St George’s Catholic High school from Salford and the Bolton Muslim Girls' School. The winning groups created technological product accessories and an interactive mathematical game. The regional winners will now go on to compete at the Greater Manchester final at the Trafford Centre in May.
Thornleigh Salesian College’s group of 22 young entrepreneurs, TLE (Thornleigh Leading Enterprise), created and marketed a mobile phone accessory, the ‘Joey Pouch’ – an innovative device to hold mobile phones whilst they are charging.
Jasmin Bannister, Thornleigh Salesian College student, 15, said: “It’s been such a fun project to work on and we’ve all learnt so much. The competition was really tough in our category for Bolton. We wish the winning teams the best of luck at the Greater Manchester finals next month.”
Alison Burrowes, Head Teacher of Thornleigh Salesian College, said: “We’ve been so impressed by the level of maturity displayed by the young students – from their initial brainstorming sessions and capital-raising activities, to the creation of the final product. They are great representatives of our school.”
Marie Gilluley, Principal of Bolton College, said: “It was fantastic to welcome so many eager pupils from across the local area to Bolton College. The initiative is a fantastic way to showcase the incredible entrepreneurial talents of young people in this part of Greater Manchester. Congratulations to all the teams, who have all worked extremely hard over the past few months.”
For more information about Bolton College and its partnerships with local schools, please visit www.boltoncollege.ac.uk.
