STUDENTS from Balcarras School were crowned Gloucestershire’s Best Company at the Young Enterprise (YE) Company Programme area final at Royal Agricultural University on Monday (April 25), beating tricky competition from six other teams, including three from Cirencester College.

The winning company, Maji Bottle, manufactures and sells children’s water bottles designed to encourage children to drink more water during the school day, and will represent the county at the South West final on June 15 in Dorset.

The programme, supported by HSBC, is aimed at 15 to 19 year olds and sees participants set up and run businesses for an academic year, guided by mentors, with over 200 students from Gloucestershire having taken part this year, setting up a total of 17 businesses.

The final saw each team demonstrating their products and services, and showcasing the skills they’ve developed along the way.

Meggie Warren and Ryan Winters, joint managing directors of Maji Bottle, said: “We’re thrilled to win. It means so much to us and makes the hard work well worth it. We’ve come such a long way since we started the Company Programme in September last year, and have learned so much.”

YE is the UK’s leading enterprise and financial education charity having worked with over four million young people aged 4 to 25 in the UK for over 50 years.

Julie Pond, YE area manager said: “We had some great companies started up by students in Gloucestershire this year and the judges were incredibly impressed with the products and services they had developed and the presentations they gave at the awards.

“The awards highlighted how the YE Company Programme can inspire young people to become the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and help them develop practical business skills while they are still at school.

“I particularly want to congratulate the students from Balcarras who won ‘Best Company, Gloucestershire’ for having already sold 200 of their innovative bottle.”

Michael Mercieca, chief executive of YE, speaking at the event, said: “The Company Programme is a great platform for students to develop their skills such as confidence, teamwork and resilience and interact with their local business community along the way.

“Well done to all the winners,” he added.

The final also saw students from the National Star College presented with the Gloucestershire Team Event Award for their success in setting up and running their Happy Colouring Company, selling adult colouring books which they produced themselves at the college.

The other awards on offer at the area final included Best Presentation, Best Financial Performance, Most Ethical Company and Best Company Report.