Burning Ambition
A group of 15 budding young entrepreneurs from Longridge Towers School near Berwick are hoping to prove they have what it takes to make it in the world of business. Next month, their candle company CC & Co, will attend a Trade Fair at the Metro Centre as part of the HSBC Young Enterprise Innovation Awards. Lead by Managing Director Blair Hutchison from Kelso they are hoping to impress the judges with their business acumen and win through to the regional finals.
Longridge Towers School is keen to encourage students to develop their business skills and they regularly take part in the competition which is designed to give secondary pupils a taste of how it feels to work in a business. Having conducted research at a school Open Morning, they hit of the idea of making candles in attractive china tea cups.They have been running the business since September Financial Director Ryan Thomas The Business is delighted that they are already in profit. Their aim is to make £250 by the end of the academic year.
Blair explains: “Young Enterprise has been very enjoyable and a great learning experience, we have had to work as a team and outside our comfort zone. One set back was the cancellation of the Christmas Fayre due to bad weather leaving us with lots of stock and nowhere to sell it. We decided to run a stall at the nativity plays and Christmas carol service and were able to make money at these events instead.”
The scheme closely reflects the A Level business and economics course that is run at the school and is overseen by Business and Economics Teacher Mrs Notman and their business mentor Mr Richard Simpson. The trade fair will take place on February 6th at the Metro Centre in Newcastle and teams that perform well are then invited to take part in the regional finals.
Mrs Notman explains, “This group of pupils has worked extremely hard looking at all aspects of their business from marketing and branding to financial control. The fact that they are already in profit is a great testament to how well they have worked as a team to run their company and we wish them every success at the trade show.”
Longridge Towers School is the only independent school in Northumberland and The Scottish Borders offering education for boys and girls aged between 4- 18 years. Set within its own magnificent grounds, it is also the only school in these areas to offer weekly and term boarding. Longridge is, for the second year running, placed top of the league tables for GCSE results in Northumberland.
