Borough’s young people get a thirst for business with online masterclass competition

More than 800 Primary 6 pupils with brilliant business ideas have been taking part in an exciting online masterclass, with some battling it out to bag first place in a competition.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council teamed up with Young Enterprise NI to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week by rolling out online challenges sparking creativity with clout in the next generation of budding business people.

Students learnt about what a business is and how it communicates with its customers through product packaging and branding.

As part of the challenge, the students developed their creative and communication skills by developing a new juice and designing their own carton.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Cllr William McCaughey said: “There was a fantastic response to the competition with 120 entries. The standard was very high and made judging extremely difficult. The winning entry was from Suzie Curry, a P6 pupil at St Brigid’s primary school in Ballymena with her Po-Mo juice idea.

“The judges felt that Suzie’s design demonstrated exceptional creativity and artistic quality whilst incorporating important product information and marketing messaging.

“Council is keen to support entrepreneurs of all ages and to strengthen the existing enterprise culture within the borough. We are pleased to support Young Enterprise in their efforts to engage and inspire the next generation.”

Carol Fitzsimons MBE, Young Enterprise NI Chief Executive, added: “We are so pleased to work in partnership with Mid and East Antrim Council. We were really impressed by the brilliant ideas the students submitted as part of this online Business Masterclass.

“The skills they learn through our programmes such as confidence, resilience and creativity will enable them to be better prepared to adapt and thrive in an ever changing world. Well done to everyone who took part and congratulations to Suzie.”

The four runners up were Emily Murphy and Aimee Burns from St Brigid’s PS, Ollie Wilson from Buick Memorial PS and Grace Hamill from Camphill PS.