South Staffordshire students went to their very own Dragon’s Den style evening to present their business proposals to a panel of judges in a bid to win the Young Enterprise Best Overall Business award.

The black tie event was hosted in a premier suite at Bar Sport in Cannock and saw four teams of young entrepreneurs win awards for their successful business ventures.

Guest speakers included Councillor Gill Beddows, Local Conservative MP Aidan Burley and Alton Towers HR Director Phil Stern, who competed in a Young Enterprises competition when he was a similar age to the participants.

During the ten month Young Enterprise programme, school pupils were invited to run and manage their own limited company.

Local businesses were on hand throughout the programme to offer a mentoring service to the budding business men and women.

Paul Mason from DHL and Chairman of the Board of South Staffordshire Young Enterprise said the event was a huge success.

“The competition was fierce this year with local schools offering highly skilled pupils who are extremely clued up on business initiatives,” he said.

“The competition started with eight teams and was whittled down to four for the presentation evening.

“It made it really tough for the judging panel to decide a winner but it was an interesting and inspiring competition overall.”

The overall winning team, ‘Hand iBag’ showcased their innovative bag designs for iPods and iPhones. They won an impressive three awards on the night including Best Presentation, Best Company Report, and Best Overall Business and demonstrated key business skills throughout the programme which thoroughly impressed the judging panel.

The team, made up of sixteen year old Managing Director Lucy Dolman, Marketing Director and Company Secretary Sophie Lawrence and Financial Director Emma Baker, are now moving on to the challenge of County Finals.

Runners up ‘Wash’ from Fair Oak High School, created their own soap tablets in a bid to impress judges while ‘Seedlings’ from Great Wyrley High School sold planted flower pots aimed at 4-10 year olds and won the Best Business Plan award at the event.

The Sycamore Card Company from Horizon High School were given a special recognition for their commitment to the programme when designing their specialised gift cards.

To further showcase young local talent the night offered entertainment from 13 year old singer, Courtney Hurcombe and Featherstone’s Got Talent 2009 winner, breakdancer Zach Rushton.

Pictured are winning team Hand iBag (left to right) Sophie Lawrence, Lucy Dolman and Emma Baker.