Steve Harper of Invest NI, and the team of Compresso from Friends School Lisburn
The finalists of this year’s Young Enterprise made their last pitch on Friday 5th April at the Invest NI headquarters in Belfast and Roger was delighted to attend!
The final 8 teams had to present their business model and product/service to the audience, before having an interview with this Year’s Judges. The calm and collective manner, in which, all the teams stood before the judges would have even impressed the fiercest of Dragons!
The presentations were inspiring, with each team detailing their journey so far, how their Company developed in terms of product design, sales and marketing, lessons learned and obstacles they overcame.
With an ever growing focus on social responsibility, community involvement, employee wellbeing and sustainable production within the Northern Irish, and indeed, global business community, it was fascinating to see how the next generation are actively embracing and encouraging this shift. A large focus of the day was on Youth Mental Health and environmental issues such as plastic waste (including in the ocean) and reusable coffee cups.
Social Media was, not surprisingly, a key driver to raising awareness of their companies, and indeed selling online was more evident this year than previous years. With online sales overtaking the high street year on year, these young entrepreneurs are using digital technology at the forefront of their distribution channels.
We wish each and every team all the very best of luck and can’t wait to hear who the winner will be! We will keep you updated…
Carol Fitzsimmons, CEO of YENI, introducing the day
