Students wow judges with innovative business ideas
Over 7,000 students from across the region
have wowed judges with their innovative business ideas, during
Round 1 of the Swansea Bay Young Business Dragons
competition.
Teams from Neath Port Talbot, Swansea and
Carmarthenshire battled it out for the opportunity to represent
their school in the next stage of the popular event, which sees
students embark on a 6 month programme that aims to inspire them to
become future entrepreneurs.
The event is challenging teams of 14-15 year
olds to create and develop a business idea around the theme of UK
Festivals. School teams compete in an inter-school round and
qualifying teams will now go onto the area semi-finals in
October.
Business ideas developed by the teams have ranged
from high tech apps to designer festival welly boots and disposable
bio-degradable tents.
40 teams have now made it through to
Semi Final Stage of the competition. Pupils at Dyffryn
School commented “we had a brilliant day developing our
ideas. We enjoyed coming up with an original idea and being able to
develop our marketing and entrepreneurial skills. We found
the pitch to judges a very rewarding experience and are now
looking forward to working with our business
mentor and competing at the Neath Port Talbot Semi Finals in
October.”
The event is sponsored by Wales & West
Utilities. Graham Edwards, the company’s Chief Executive,
said: “We are very proud to be once again supporting this event.
Last year’s competition had such a positive impact on the
young people and on the mentors that took part – it is
remarkable. This year it seems that this high standard is yet
again evident. The business ideas in Round 1 of the
competition have been fantastic and inspirational. We would
like to wish all 40 teams the best of luck for the next stage of
the competition and we look forward to seeing which 6 teams are
short listed for the Regional Finals in November.”
Over 50 local businesses have volunteered
their time to mentor and share their experiences with students.
The competition which is organised by Swansea
Bay Partnership in association with Careers Wales culminates during
Enterprise Week in November with a Dragons Den-style final.
There 6 short-listed teams from the semi finals will pitch their
business ideas to a judging panel of local business experts.
The winning school team will scoop £1,000 and the coveted title of
Swansea Bay young Business Dragons 2012.
For further information on the event visit
www.swanseabaypartnership.com
or contact Sarah Toomey, Swansea Bay Partnership Event Coordinator
on 01792 637284.