NI’s top student businesses celebrate year of enterprise at Belfast City Hall

by Gráinne Connolly

A prestigious black tie event will take place at Belfast City Hall later, to celebrate the hard work and dedication from students across Northern Ireland who completed the Young Enterprise Company Programme this year.

Young Enterprise NI is staging it's annual awards ceremony where the top student businesses and individuals from across the region will be crowned. 

Five teams have been shortlisted and the chosen winning company, will go on to represent Northern Ireland in the Young Enterprise UK Finals at County Hall, London in July. 

The EY Entrepreneur of the Future Award, which recognises individuals with a strong desire to set up and run a business in the future, will also be announced on the evening.

Two lucky winners will attend the Next Generation Leaders Forum in Canada in August to collaborate and network with global peers.

The following student companies from Belfast, Lisburn, Omagh, Derry/Londonderry and Banbridge are in the running for the accolade with projects they have created:

• Belfast Boys' Model School and Mercy College - 'Mindsight'
  Mindsight is a social enterprise that uses an app as a medium for conversation and information about mental health, using some innovative and modern methods to make it engaging and interactive for the user
   
• The Wallace High School (Lisburn) - 'Phonix' 
  A 3 in 1 multifunctional headband with built in speakers that act as earphones have been produced by Phonix. The headphones can be used for sleeping, exercise or travelling.
   
• Banbridge Academy - 'Poppin'
  Poppin’s socket sticks onto the back of a phone to prevent you from dropping the phone and makes it easier to take selfies or wrap earphones around.
   
• Thornhill College - 'The Pink Elephant' 
  The Pink Elephant makes handmade foam flower mini arrangements, made of a range of foam flowers and various greenery entwined and held in a glass jar which come in a range of shapes and sizes, with a handmade tags on the neck with pebbles or sand in each one.
   
• Omagh Academy - 'Spectrum' 

  The Book Worm Bundle is a series of four educational and dyslexia friendly activity books developed by Spectrum for primary and secondary school children between the ages of 6 and 13.

Young Enterprise NI Chief Executive, Carol Fitzsimons MBE said, "Over 90,000 young people across Northern Ireland participate in our Programmes each year and this is the pinnacle event.  

"The Company Programme gives young people the chance to run their own business over the academic year with guidance from a business volunteer, sell their products at trade fairs and compete with other schools.

"The process to get to this stage involved a daunting pitch and interview at Invest NI’s Headquarters in Belfast facing a panel of some of Northern Ireland’s top business moguls.

Derek Baker, Permanent Secretary for the Department of Education said “My Department is pleased to support Young Enterprise Northern Ireland and the Company Programme has provided the opportunity for school children to develop new entrepreneurial skills, work with local businesses and ultimately prepare them for their future career paths. 

"I want to congratulate the students who have completed this year’s Programme and to wish the winning company good luck in the upcoming finals in July.”

Professor Mark Durkin, Executive Dean of Ulster University Business School, commented, “Ulster University Business School is delighted to support Young Enterprise.  Experiencing how businesses actually work through the YE programme is an invaluable way of encouraging more young people to actively pursue a business career and ultimately contribute to creating a more entrepreneurial economy within Northern Ireland. 

"Our vision is to be the leading centre for entrepreneurial education in the UK and Ireland by 2021. 

"The young people who have completed this YE programme will now have had a taste of the excitement which business success brings and we look forward to them becoming part of our entrepreneurial vision for opportunity creation across Northern Ireland and globally through our 60,000 strong alumni network.”

The Young Enterprise Company Programme runs every year in schools across Northern Ireland, allowing students to develop their entrepreneurial skills whilst connecting with local businesses. If you would like to get involved contact Young Enterprise at info@yeni.co.uk or on 028 9032 7003.