13th May 2019
BHASVIC Young Enterprise students compete in the County Finals
The Young Enterprise ‘Company Programme’ competition is an established nationwide annual competition that our students have participated in for the last 3 years. Students work in teams to develop a marketable business idea and plan, finance, and sell it. The process is a fantastic opportunity for our students to develop essential employability skills such as entrepreneurialism, leadership, team work, problem solving and communication. Teams are then judged by industry experts on their product, website, branding, company report, presentation, customer service, and overall performance.
This year’s Area Finals were held in the AMEX Stadium on Thursday 25th April. 15 teams competed including 4 from BHASVIC – Soundwaves, Cove, Lifeline and Mobilize. Soundwaves sourced Bluetooth waterproof speakers, Cove manufactured organic scented candles, Lifeline branded solar powered phone chargers, and Mobilize branded smart phone accessories. Soundwaves won Best Company Report and came second place for Company of the Year. This second award meant that they competed in the County Finals held at Ricardo Engineering on Wednesday the 1st May! They competed admirably against 5 other teams from schools and colleges across West and East Sussex and won the award for Best TV advert which you can view here - https://youtu.be/yWQe-Q3FqlY
Young Enterprise is offered as a portfolio course for second year students because we feel it is a valuable learning experience for our students. A recent Young Enterprise survey showed that 95% of students participating felt they have improved at least one employability competency including Self-esteem, Problem solving and Resilience. 73% of young people agreed that working with their business advisors throughout the programme helped them understand the world of work. 81% of young people reported that programme was useful in learning how to manage money.
We’re really proud of all of our students who competed, and delighted that Soundwaves got so far in the competition! Big thanks go out to Tim Griffin in the Business & Economics team for leading the students through this competition, and Phil Roberts for volunteering to mentor our students as part of the Young Enterprise process.
Andrew Shepherd
Head of Business & Economics