Blaise students succeed at Young Enterprise Showcase Final

The group was awarded the prize for Best Company Presentation, competing against eight other teams from across Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. The seven students from Blaise High School, who are in Year 9, have been the youngest team in the competition since its start in September, with the other teams being sixth form and college students. Despite their young age, the team have developed their business 'Botanic Palace', a company with the aim to create seeded paper to sell as gifts for friends and loved ones. They researched the meanings behind different types of flowers to decide which seeds to use in the creation of their product, settling on lavender, forget-me-nots and pansies.

Their plans for the future would be to widen their range of available seeds and produce greeting cards incorporating seeded paper.

As part of the Young Enterprise programme, the students attended two trade fairs in November and March in Bristol to sell their product to the public, gaining valuable skills in sales techniques, confidence in talking to the public and being able to explain the meaning behind their product. They had to take care of all the finances, keeping balance sheets and stock lists and considering profit and loss margins.

At the final showcase in April, they delivered a well-rounded, clear and confident presentation to judges from a variety of local businesses and firms and university staff as well as the students and staff from each of the other schools in the competition. They spoke with passion and knowledge of their business and product and were able to answer a variety of judges’ questions which all led to them being awarded the Best Company Presentation award.