Dragons Den
Our TY students had the opportunity to showcase their enterprise talent in a Dragons Den Competition held in school. Students had to submit a business plan for their company and on the day present a power point presentation to the judges. Following the pitch, the Dragons had the opportunity to question the entrepreneurs on all aspects of their business before deciding which company they would like to invest in.
The judging panel comprised of Lisa Nolan from Aslan Business Coaching, Emmet Colleran of Colleran Accountants, Mark McArdle from McArdle Office Supplies, Shane O’Connor from Eldron Property & Adrian Kelly qualified solicitor and business coach.
First prize, a laptop, was won by Holly Agnew. Her company Sweet Sensations sells quality baking mixes. The product is a delicious bake at home Brownie-Mix, handmade and presented in a 0.5 litre glass jar. It makes for a wonderful gift for both adults and children alike and can be personalised to suit the customer's specific needs. Each jar comes with specified ingredient quantities and easy-to-follow instructions to ensure a successful experience.
Rachel Cooper and Niamh Crawley came second and won a tablet for their company Cozy Hats. This innovative company makes heatable hats that contain heat bags made from rivet wheat grains to keep the head and ears warm throughout the day and has a lavender scent that is used to reduce anxiety.
Rebecca Murphy also won a tablet when she was placed in third place for her company OakCrafts which specialises in producing handmade wood burned pieces of work and quality pet portraits using graphite pencils. Both the sketches and the wood have a varnish finish. Customers can request designs and/or quotes to be burned onto a piece of wood. The sketches are also done by request of a customer and will have a varnish finish with a frame included
Well done to our prize winners but also to the other 6 companies that competed. The standard was exceptionally high and as a result all 9 companies were awarded with gift vouchers to celebrate their hard work and participation.
Also Congratulations to Holly Agnew & Rebecca Murphy who both also won awards at the Student Enterprise Awards Monaghan. Holly won 'Best Presentation' for her company and Rebecca won Runner Up in the 'Innovation Awards' for her company. Finally, congratulations to Rachel Cooper who won an Intergenerational Award, in a competition led by the Age-Friendly University Office in Dublin City University.
