Children, parents and teachers from five Stockport Secondary Schools packed the Insider suite on Friday 3rd July for the finale of the Stockport Secondary Schools Young Entrepreneurs of 2009 Competition.
The schools involved were:
- Reddish Vale Technology College - Vale Games
- Offerton High School - Sticko
- Priestnall High School - Ultimate & PPP
- Kingsway High School - Car Wash Kings & Pop n Go
- Stockport Academy - Froco
The event sponsored by the Local Authorities Extended Schools team was a huge success and brought together members of the Stockport Business Community, Stockport County FC and students from five local Secondary Schools.
The finale saw ten teams pitch their wits against each other, firstly, in a Market place environment and then secondly through the formal Multi-media Presentations. Offerton High Schools 'Sticko' team consisting of Mike Gough, Connor Young, Millie Wilson, Siobhan McGowan and Matthew Brindley eventually lifted the Stockport Secondary Schools Young Entrepreneurs of 2009 trophy, which was kindly donated by one of our key Business Partners Sigma Sdi.
Mark Davis, General Manager Sigma SDi 'We were very pleased to be asked to support the Stockport Young Entrepreneurs Competition and were really impressed by the commitment and hard work put in by all those involved. This competition has given local students a chance to see for themselves what it is like to run their own business and has provided them with invaluable experience - The future of local business would appear to be in safe hands!
Mark worked directly with the students involved in the competition, helping each group through feasibility studies of their original business ideas and the production of a final business plan. "There were some truly fantastic ideas that came out of the original session at the Study Centre, it is just a shame that time and budget restraints meant that students were unable to embark on the production of the "Magic Coffee Cup" or the "Self Washing Shower Cap". Each group was able to settle upon a strong business idea however, and I was extremely impressed with the quality and content of many of the business plans that were produced."
Alan Resnick, Director of Sigma SDI and Chair of the judging panel said "...this has been a thoroughly enjoyable evening and the quality of the competition has been outstanding". Out of 200 marks that were on offer from the judging panel the two best teams were separated by just 2 points, with the "Sticko" team from Offerton High School edging it to becoming winners of the uBizEE Trophy. "...it was down to the quality of the final presentation on the evening, with the "Sticko" team being awarded 45 out of 50 for a humorous and confident presentation, the judging panel was also extremely impressed with the "Sticko" teams logo and their performance on their stand during the Market Place section of the evening."
When asked about the quality of the marketing of the students businesses Simon King, SCFC Marketing Manager said "The students use of multi-media techniques, the production of professional advertisements for their products and the point of sale poster displays would rival any professional business.
The students have shown a great deal of commitment and hard work in this area supported by Gary and his team at our superb Study Centre."
Gary Richards, Study Centre Manager 'The evening was a great success from the LA's point of view and was very well attended. The quality of the work on display was outstanding and the collaboration between the Stockport Business Community and Stockport Schools was clearly evident. It was also really nice to reward a number of students from the participating schools receive an ipod for all their hard work and endeavour. (Courtesy of MCC Digital, Warrington) To see Yr 7 students using our multi-media facilities to create their own Corporate Logos, Business Plans, Marketing Campaigns, Adverts and also produce Key note presentations which they then pitched to a packed audience and a panel of judges was fantastic!
Next years competition will be rolled out to all Stockport Schools and we hope to fully utilise the Business links with Stockport County's 100 Club. I would really like to thank everyone who attended as it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
