Young Enterprise team success

Going into the Young Enterprise Area Heat at Reeds Hotel in Barton-on-Humber with a company that had no tangible product meant that Tollbar’s Young Enterprise team faced an uphill task.

The stands of the other three teams, all from Scunthorpe schools, displayed cards and gifts, candles and glo-lights while the three panels of the Tollbar business This & That featured only fund-raising and marketing initiatives.

But such was the professionalism of their presentation and their corporate image that they came out overall winners and now go through to the Strategic Area Final at Tickton Grange near Hull on May 12 where they will take on schools from Hull and East Yorkshire.

"It is rare for a company without an actual product to win," explained Business Teacher Vince Groak. "Their strength was definitely their corporate image and their professional approach."

In the individual sections, This & That was judged Best Marketing Company and Best Company Presentation while Company Secretary Zabrina Short was runner-up in the Best Director section.

The team is made up of Siobhan Drury (Managing Director), Amy Portess and Olivia Forster (Assistant Managing Directors), Zabrina and fellow directors Joe Rigby, Niall Robinson, Joe Martin and Andrew Hopgood.

Fund raising and marketing are their "products" and as part of their presentation, they emphasised their main aim – to help the community.

Scenes from a concert they organised, which raised £662.18p for Children in Need, were shown, together with details of how they negotiated a discount on revision guides which they are currently selling within the College, with part of the profits donated to the relevant department.

Their third project is the marketing of the soon-to-be-released CD featuring artists from within Tollbar.

This & That started out as a much larger group last September, but by November had been whittled down to the eight directors.

"We voted for who should take on which role and fitted these to our skills," explained Niall, who made This & That’s presentation to the judges "For instance, Joe Martin is very good at art so he is our artistic director."

"I had never heard of Young Enterprise but I have learned so much about marketing that I am now leaning towards that as a career."

Zabrina said that the win had put the directors "on a high" and that they were going to build on their success.

"Our emphasis has always been on helping the community and for the next round we will be updating our presentation and company report," she said. "We are very lucky to have a team with such a wide range of skills."

The company report runs into 10 pages and includes financial data and the This & That Mission Statement.

"Everything is done outside lesson time," Niall explained. "We have three meetings a week during our free periods with an agenda and minutes and then we work individually in our own time.

"The amount of work is phenomenal, far more than we expected, but you have to bear with it and get it done."

Zabrina agrees with this. "I have always had an ambition to run my own company and Young Enterprise has made me realise how much hard work is involved," she said.

The first heat of the competition involved a 10 minute presentation to a panel of professional judges from organisations such as Lloyds TSB and Corus.

At the Area Final, this reduces to five minutes which will mean more practice in the Tollbar Conference Centre.

"We are very lucky to have this centre on site and the manager Katy Tuplin has been really helpful, giving us lots of time to practise there," Niall said. "I have done small classroom presentations before but having the conference room gives a much better feel for the real thing."

Zabrina also feels that the company has been fortunate with the amount of support it has received.

"Mr Groak has been amazing and so many people have helped, from the caretakers who took the boards to Reeds Hotel and the college’s technicians to Mr Hampson the Principal," she said.