A student from Notre Dame High School has won first prize at the prestigious 13th annual BiG Challenge Awards for school and college students.
This annual competition for young entrepreneurs continues to engage students across the city with 230 teams from 18 Sheffield academies, schools and colleges registering in September 2019. Each team started with an initial £25 investment to start and grow their business over a four-month period. Many of the businesses made over £500 during this period.
The winning business ‘Yo Scrunchi’, run by Madeleine Hindmarch from Notre Dame High School, designs and manufactures hair accessories; scrunchies, hair bands, hair bobbles and hair slides.
Madeleine says “I decided to enter as I am a creative person and enjoy sewing, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to start my own business in this area and compete against other teams. I enjoy working independently and thought it would be a good idea to put my skills into practice and enter BiG Challenge”. Madeleine also won two category awards for the Made in Sheffield Award and winner of the Biggest Profit Award, declaring a profit of £854.
Second Prize went to runners-up Junonia Jewellery of King Edward VII School, who also won the Best Final Report category.
Other winners include Bambeco (Bradfield School), Stress Savers (Tapton School), Game in a Bag (Mercia School), Cool Coasters (High Storrs School) Eco Life (High Storrs) Think Ink (Mercia), Planet B (Notre Dame School) Candles and Candy (Bradfield School) Soapee (Meadowhead School) The Soap Works (Tapton School).
A much-anticipated trip of a lifetime to Budapest, sponsored by major law firm DLA Piper, has had to be cancelled due to restrictions imposed by the current pandemic emergency. However, an alternative exciting prize will be revealed in due course and has been won by both Yo Scrunchi and Junonia Jewellery.
Petra Billing, Office Managing Partner at DLA Piper’s Sheffield office said, “It is a real pleasure to be sponsoring this initiative for the 11thconsecutive year. The BiG Challenge highlights the talents and entrepreneurial flair in young people from across the Sheffield City Region, helping students to build their commercial skills and confidence as well as finding out what it takes to be successful in business. We are pleased to be able to support and reward them in their ventures. Again, this year I have been so impressed by the talent of all the participants in the Challenge and a huge, well deserved congratulations goes to the winner Yo Scrunchi from Notre Dame High School.”
David Grey MBE, Chairman of the BiG Challenge, presented the Awards via an online video presentation, in place of the planned high profile Awards ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria. David gave an important message to all who took part in BiG Challenge 2020, “When we’re through this Coronavirus it will be up to entrepreneurs like you to rebuild the economy, so you are very important in this fabric of our society as we go forward”.
The BiG Challenge is funded by Sheffield City Council and receives sponsorship from a number of prestigious companies, including DLA Piper, BHP Chartered Accountants, Henry Boot Construction, Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria, Made in Sheffield, OSL Group, Sheffield International Venues, Yorkshire Bank, Twinkl, Ellesse, the Market Place, Crystal Peaks and the Moor Market.
