business

Giggleswick School’s Young Enterprise Students Reach National Finals

Picture by McFade. From left to right: Amy Chadwick from Bradford, Claudia Humberstone from Skipton, Evie Fenton from Settle, William Kirkhope-Arkley from Sheffield and Cameron Ogilvie from Settle, with chairman of the judges Simon Williams, who is the chairman for Yorkshire, The Humber and the North East Federation of Small Businesses.

A colouring book based on Yorkshire landmarks has earned young entrepreneurs from Giggleswick School a regional award and a place in a prestigious national final.

The group of A level students won the Young Enterprise Yorkshire and the Humber Company of the Year following the regional final at the National Railway Museum in York. They will now compete in the national final in London later this month.

This follows their success in previous rounds when they were named Company of the Year for both Craven and Harrogate and North Yorkshire.
Giggleswick's head of business studies Kyle Holland, said: "The judges were very impressed by the work done throughout the year especially their creativity and the scalability of their product with the possibility of books for Cumbria, Lancashire and Durham in the future.

"It has been an incredible journey for the students. This award is the result of many months of hard work in creating, marketing and selling their ‘Colour County' colouring books. It all stemmed from an idea to create a fun and educational product for children based on Yorkshire landmarks. All the outline images in the book were created by artists from Giggleswick School and it has proved a hit with adults as well as children."

Priced at £5, the company has sold more than 300 colouring books both direct to customers and to local retailers. They are also available to buy online through the Young Enterprise marketplace.

The Young Enterprise Company Programme provides young people, aged 15-19 years old, with the opportunity to set up and run their own real company while still at school or college. They learn vital business skills through the programme and put a lot of classroom learning into practice. Young Enterprise companies operate as fully functional businesses with share capital being raised, weekly board meetings with agendas and minutes being written, and accounts being completed on an ongoing basis.

Mr Holland added: "The students have been supported on their journey by business advisors Jake Brearey and Jo Smith from Skipton Building Society, who have provided valuable professional insights."