UK students win Company of the Year with stylish perfume pen
9 augustus 2011
August 7th, Oslo – A group of talented young businessmen from St Paul's School, London, representing the UK won their battle with 33 other teams and took the title JA-YE Europe Company of The Year. The event took place in Oslo on August 3-7 and was hosted by JA-YE Norway.
The UK team called Summit Enterprise created a multifunctional perfume pen for men and women which works both as a practical pen for work and also a perfume atomiser for refreshing yourself or preparing yourself to go out. The pens are delivered with a stylish felt slip case.
260,000 young people created student companies across Europe this year. The top 180 young entrepreneurs were showcased in the 22nd JA-YE Europe Company Competition 2011. 600 people from 64 countries witnessed the event. These enterprising secondary school students have all been running an enterprise through the JA-YE Company Programme and they have each received the support of their teachers as well as guidance from volunteers from the business world. Each student company develops real products and/or services and they all deal with the challenges of setting up and running a small business.
“Winnowing down the candidates was incredibly tough. In the end, the most telling factors were how serious the plans were and how big we thought the companies could become if they played their cards right. The UK team has shown excellent team spirit, development of their personal skills, understanding of business, and capability to apply the lessons learnt,” said Vibeke Hammer Madsen, Chair of JA-YE Norway and Chair of the Jury.
“Words cannot express our delight and honour to be part of what is such a fantastic competition, these finals have yet again highlighted the quality and standard of Young Enterprise and its budding achievers,” said the boys from the Summit team.
Speaking at the event Caroline Jenner, JA-YE Europe CEO talked of the importance of skills for employability in the future and the need for more young entrepreneurs in Europe; “Over the last 22 years the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition has gone from strength to strength and we have seen an increase in quality and innovation of the student teams year after year. Both entrepreneurial skills and more specifically clever marketing strategies are on show here and these young entrepreneurs will contribute significantly to Europe’s economy in the future - we applaud them all for their achievements so far.”
The winners of the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition 2011 were announced as follows:
• 1st Runner UP was given to team newQReation I/S from Ikast, Denmark for their innovation in combining QR-codes and smartphones.
• 2nd Runner UP went to Slovakia and the team ACE for their innovative quality product–toothbrush with toothpaste.
During the competition special juries also decided the following signature awards:
• FedEx Access Award went to team Backboard from Switzerland. Backboard sells bags and cases made out of worn and used sails. The elegant and sporty bags stand for individuality as well as ecological awareness.
• Norwegian Tax Administration Accounting Award went to team Captura from Norway. Captura is a company which produces a youth magazine named Inferno and is providing freelance journalism.
• Nordea Award for the Best Business Idea was awarded to team newQReation from Denmark.
The winners of the following online awards were also officially recognised at the event:
• Ferd Award for Social Entrepreneurship went to Benjamin Kainz & Oscar Lundin, Founders of “Ung Omsorg”. At the age of 23 they have built a successful social enterprise which employs over 600 young people and is making a really positive impact on the lives of thousands of elderly people in Sweden.
• Accenture Enterprise without Borders High Potential Award was given to a team of enterprising students from schools in Denmark, Italy and Bulgaria. The winning team developed “In Tour Europe,” a concept of sustainable travel tourism that can be replicated anywhere in the world.
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