Innovative ideas put into practice

May 9 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

FOUR young businesses are through to the final of the Young Enterprise North East awards after successfully coming through two hotly contested regional heats.

Companies from schools in Hartlepool and Darlington won through from the southern regional qualifier and two companies from schools in Newcastle won the Northern heat.

The four will now compete in the regional final on June 17 to be crowned regional winner in the Company of the Year category, sponsored by Sage.

The winner will then go through to represent the region in the UK Young Enterprise final.

The four finalists are:

Voila!, Central Newcastle High School, Newcastle

Voila! waitressing was started by 13 girls in September 2007. Their aim is to provide a bespoke waitressing service with a discreet and personable style while maintaining the highest standards of service. By December, 2007, Voila! had worked at 11 events.

Managing director Georgia Clark said: “We are ecstatic about winning a place at the Regional Final 2008. We are over the moon and can’t quite believe it! All of the team has worked really hard and our place is well deserved.”

Educrate, Newcastle Church High School

Educrate’s logo and slogan is ‘Think inside the box’ and its mission is to make learning innovative and fun as well as making a profitable business.

The young entrepreneurs make and produce high quality educational crates with the intention of making learning fun for younger children, hence the name “Educrate”. The group’s target market is schools, parents and children.

Team members Olivia Rawlinson and Jessica Stamp said: “It has been an amazing experience and winning is just the icing on the cake.”

Languages, The English Martyrs School & Sixth Form College, Hartlepool

Languages’ aim is to provide quality educational resources to enhance the learning of French in KS2 and KS3 children.

The young entrepreneurs have created a learning pack which includes three fun French games, shopping, clothes and class card games, all with corresponding wordlists, instructions and CD Roms. Customers include Hartlepool Borough Council, parents and schools all adding to the success of Languages.

A spokesperson for the group said: “We have been lucky, as we have an outstanding team and we feel our company has great potential for the future.”

Way2Go Events, Carmel RC College, Darlington

The budding entrepreneurs from Way2Go aim to provide the best quality events and entertainment service.

The group chose event management due to the fun factor and to build on specialist skills within the team.

The group have organized events including discos, open mic nights and a Valentines extravaganza. They have also published a school newspaper called “The Voice” and are currently publishing a Year 11 leavers year book.

A spokesperson said: “The whole group are really thrilled. It’s great that all of our hard work has paid off.”

The final takes place on Tuesday, June 17, at Newcastle Marriott Hotel, Gosforth Park.

To book a table, contact Debbie Nicholls, event executive at ncjMedia, on (0191) 201-6435.