ENVIRONMENTALISTS, pet lovers and budding nutritionists make up the three companies that will represent the South West, the West Midlands and Scotland in the Young Enterprise finals, now only three weeks away.
Los Amigos del Bosque, Spanish for “Friends of the Forest”, from Writhlington Business and Enterprise School, won the South West England heat.
The company manufactures stationery with the aim of helping to conserve the Costa Rican rainforests. The students will invest their profits, currently £1,482, in a school and community in Costa Rica. Callum Swift, marketing director, said: “We decided to support the school after some of us visited the nearby rainforest on a science expedition.”
Los Amigos sells cards featuring photographs taken in Costa Rica and printed on recycled paper. The envelopes are made using elephant dung.
The West Midlands winners, Phoenix Crafts, from Turves Green Girls’ School and Technology College, made novelty pet feeders, and a chef’s notice board. Leighanne Barnard, marketing director, said: “After our first trade fair we realised that our core products would be pet feeders and chef boards. The demand for pet feeders has always outstripped our ability to supply sufficient products, and continued to increase regardless of price, and so we were able to increase the selling price twice.”
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The students intend to give 10 per cent of profits, currently £1,533, to benefit underprivileged children in South Africa.
To help to combat obesity, Evolution, at Lenzie Academy, Dunbartonshire, ran a healthy eating tuck shop. The company also sold a side line, “Movie Moments” — a local artist’s sketches of scenes from films.
Sarah Barrows, managing director, said: “We came up with the Movie Moments idea in a brainstorming session, but we also had the opportunity to take over the school tuck shop, which posed a dilemma . . . We decided to provide both.”
Endorsement by George Bowie, a Clyde 1 radio station DJ, helped Evolution, as did loyalty cards. Profits stand at £740.