On Tuesday 25th April, Montsaye Academy’s Young Enterprise team, Decorus Candles, represented the Academy at the Northamptonshire County Final of the YE Company Programme. The students embarked on this programme back in October last year and since then they have set-up and run a very successful company selling scented candles in recycled jars. The students have been marketing their products throughout school and via social media, as well as attending trade fairs and other sales opportunities both in and outside of the Academy. The programme allows them the opportunity to experience a variety of roles within a business from finance to sales and marketing to administration.
22 teams were established within Northamptonshire and Decorus Candles were very proud to be one of the 6 which qualified for the County Final, held at the Guildhall in Northampton. Having submitted a lengthy company report, prior to the evening, the team had to arrive and set up a trade stand which would later be scrutinised by the judges. They were then interviewed by the judging panel with questions on a number of subjects including sales, teamwork, communication, marketing & finance.
The team then had to present to the judges and all the other represented schools and guests (including the Mayor of Corby, Mayor of Wellingborough and Mayor of South Northamptonshire) detailing their journey as a company to date.
On the evening there was a total of 10 awards on offer, with the final award being the County Winner and an opportunity to represent Northamptonshire at the next round of the competition. Although the team unfortunately missed out on being crowned the winners, they did pick up three awards on the evening. These were:
- Most Environmental
- Best Marketing; and
- Best Financial Management.
The team performed exceptionally well and received extremely positive feedback from the judges. The company has been very successful and the awards listed above are a fitting recognition of the many hours this group have already put into their business. On the evening they did themselves and the Academy proud.