Bayside Team Win ‘Innovation In IT’ Award At Young Enterprise National Final
Students from Bayside Comprehensive School have won AT&T’s ‘Innovation in IT’ Award at the Young Enterprise National Final.
The final, on the 17th June, which was held digitally this year instead of in person due to the Covid-19 pandemic, celebrated the achievements of students who have set up and run a company over the academic year as part of the Young Enterprise Company Programme.
Young Enterprise is a national charity which works to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to succeed in the changing world of work. Their vision is that every young person is given an equal opportunity to learn the vital skills needed to earn and look after their money, to develop an enterprising mindset and to make a valuable contribution to their communities and wider society.
The AT&T Innovation in I.T Award is awarded to the team which demonstrates excellence in its approach to their use of IT. This can include solid use of IT in managing the efficiency of their enterprise, in developing their product and in acquiring and developing their own IT skill capabilities along the journey.
The winning team Fuze, created a portable blender and app. Their aspiration was to promote a healthy lifestyle with the blender that is then supported by an app which provides customers easy access to workouts and smoothie recipes. They aim to slowly minimise the use of large wired blenders and replace them with our much smaller rechargeable portable blenders, which will allow blending to take place anywhere, anytime.
This year, students across the country have set up companies over the academic year, making all the decisions about their business, from deciding the company name and product, to creating a business plan, managing their finances and selling their products – despite challenging conditions due to Covid-19.
Young Enterprise research shows Company Programme participants develop key employability skills and a longitudinal study of Company Programme alumni has shown that in the two years following the programme, 94% are in education, employment or training [EET] – 5% higher than the national rate.
Roham Chellaram, the MD of Fuze, said “When we started this journey, none of us really thought we could get to the UK finals and to actually win such an important award there was truly amazing. We would like to thank our friends and family, our Business Advisors, YE, and our link teachers for their support and encouragement. We have learned a lot along the way and stuck together despite these challenging times."
Andy O’Malley, Director, Service Management UK&I said “For AT&T, technology is embedded into everything we do. We’re looking for a company who has demonstrated adoption, upskilling and innovation in the use of technology. Our congratulations to Fuze, for demonstrating those values so brilliantly in the YE Company of the Year 2020 competition.”
Sharon Davies, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise, said:
“Reaching the Company Programme National final represents an inspirational journey with many months of hard work, teamwork, creativity and resilience; congratulations Fuze. The experience and skills students from every team will have developed will stay with them for many years to come and will make a tangible difference to their futures. Students have shown particular resilience this year by continuing with their product development and sales despite school closures”.
