It's Official ~ Best in East London!
Tug of Paw (Young Enterprise Team)

Five representatives from this year's Young Enterprise team, Tug of Paw, competed against other school teams in the East London Finals of the Company Programme competition on Tuesday 9th May. Students travelled to the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP offices in London where they showcased their company. Students had already completed a detailed business report for the previous round of the competition and judges were quick to comment on the professionalism and passion shown. As with the previous round, students needed to set up a trade stand to demonstrate and give information on their product - dog toys made from recycled clothing. The judges interviewed the five representatives at their stand where they needed to explain the inspiration behind the product and the problems that both plastic or rubber dog toys and fast fashion are causing for our planet. The team were then taken off to a separate interview room where judges quizzed them on the Company Programme process, their experiences and next steps. After this, the team were greeted by other members of the team, parents and Mr Gilmore who had travelled to London to show their support.  Finally, the team needed to give a presentation to everyone at the event. They were the last to present in a very warm room but soon had the audience participating in discovering just how much of a problem plastic dog toys present to the planet, cooing at photos of their happy canine consumers and laughing as Mason and Isabel danced along to the sounds of “who let the dogs out” playing as background music to the video of their products in action. They did a fantastic job of keeping their cool throughout the day and singing the praises of the whole team, who have all worked so hard to bring this business to reality. Once again, the most prestigious award was given to Tug of Paw! The team were commended on their terrific performance in all aspects of the competition and judges felt that this was a product that could be a real success. Marketing, finance and HR skills were highlighted as key areas of success and Daniel’s managerial talents were complimented. 

Well done to the representing students; Daniel Austin, Spencer Cox, Aisha Jokomba, Isabel Lilley and Mason Mckenna for their exceptional performances. They represent a large team who are also responsible for the ideas, acumen, report writing and organisation of the business. Tug of Paw go on to compete in the London Finals next week, and we wish them all the very best of luck.

Mrs Harris
Head of Economics and Business