A team of young entrepreneurs from Hollybrook Academy in Glasgow has won the inaugural Scotland Regional Final of the 2016 Enterprise Challenge competition.
‘Team Jamboree’ pipped teams from Cleveden and Whitehill Secondary School to win the title with their idea for sourcing and selling products close to their sell by date to make jam and chutneys in reused glass jars. All three finalists had already beaten hundreds of students from other schools to reach the final.
The competing teams pitched their ideas in a Dragons Den-style event to a prestigious panel of judges including Umer Ashraf Malik, Founder of iCafe & Managing Director of Purple Lime; Tariq Shah, Director at Vigo Group; Francis Porter, Managing Director, Global Audit; Andy Brown, Senior Audit Manager at KPMG; Yvonne McLaren-Robertson, Investment Specialist, Scotland Investment Bank; and David Hepburn, Business Mentor.
Team Jamboree will now progress to the Enterprise Challenge Grand Final in London on 4th May where they will compete against winning schools from the North West, South East, West Midlands, London and Yorkshire for the chance to become national champions.
The pupils said: “This feels like a dream! We worked really hard on this and had a number of ideas about what kind of enterprise we wanted to be. We thought the jam business would work. We went to local, small food and vegetable distributors in Glasgow to source products close to their sell by date to make jam and chutneys in reused glass jars. We thought carefully about how to deliver and communicate our idea. We’re looking forward to the Grand Final in London!”
Umer Ashraf Malik said: “The Enterprise Challenge is a fantastic initiative to have been brought to Scotland. It solidifies all the hard work put in before this stage and gives young people a platform on which to excel. Not only does it boost their confidence and give them less doubt, which is what we need, it opens up their skills in so many different ways. It’s great for individuals like me to be involved in to see what great work young people put forward; they are the future of our country.”
Atif Bashir, Clinical Director & Cosmetic Dentist at Be Dental Ltd and Chairman of Mosaic Scotland, was the event’s guest speaker. He said: “The Mosaic Enterprise Challenge is a great introduction for young kids into the world of business, and socially ethical business specifically. The winning team did especially well today because not only did they have a good idea, their pitch was also very good. They had belief, showed courage and enthusiasm and are deserved winners!”
The Enterprise Challenge is generously sponsored nationally by Apax Foundation and Qatar Charity UK and supported by Totem Learning. Nael Faragy and The Prince’s Trust Scotland are the principal regional supporters. Prizes were donated by Penny Appeal, AMS Accountants Group, Amec Foster Wheeler, Poundstretcher, Human Appeal International, New Charter Housing Group, KPMG, JMW Solicitors, Virgin Trains, PwC, Squire Sanders, EY and the Scottish Sadaqah Charitable Trust.
