Budding entrepreneurs from five north-east secondary schools will battling for honours in a showdown billed as “Dragons’ Den meets The Apprentice” at the Young Enterprise Grampian (YEG) finals next month.
Inverurie Academy has two teams in contention, with one group – 5th Scent – pinning its hopes on its scented candles and another, Madera, aiming to wow the judges with its wooden chopping boards.
Hazlehead Academy will be represented by The Cork Company, which has produced a range of products made from cork, while Peterhead Academy enterprise group FOTO Alba specialises in jigsaws depicting local scenes.
Oldmachar Academy company Re-Jig uses bits of old jigsaws to make home decorations and Meldrum Avademy’s Triple M team sells moulded glass Mason jars.
All six finalists are competing for prizes for best report, presentation, trade stand and managing director categories as well as the overall title of Young Enterprise regional winner and the inaugural Balmoral Cup, which will be presented by Balmoral Group boss Jim Milne.
The pupils will showcase their products to an audience of invited guests from the world of business and education before facing questions from a judging panel led by 23-year-old entrepreneur Christian MacLeod, whose CM brand of luxury belts have seen him open his first flagship store in Glasgow and announce a partnership with Aston Martin.
Other judges will include Monkey Bars (Aberdeen) director Ben Iravani, Thorpe Molloy director Judith Thorpe, Bagels and Stuff founder Louise Divarquez, Aberdeen University leadership director Neil McLennan and Julian Rippener, strategic contracts manager of YEG sponsor Shell.
Scott Hunter, creative director of design agency Hampton Associate, will be lead judge for the trade stand part of the competition, which reaches its climax at Robert Gordon University’s Aberdeen Business School on April 26.
YEG chairman Neil Marchant said: “The standard of the company reports was very high so we anticipate a hotly contested battle.
“We’re very excited about our finals event … as the teams will be facing a panel of some of Scotland’s leading entrepreneurs in a new style of event which can only be described as Dragons’ Den meets The Apprentice.”