Soapstars dazzle Madrid
3 July 2008
Six students from Hayle Community School in Cornwall have paid a memorable visit to the British Embassy in Madrid where they met the British Ambassador, Mrs Denise Holt, and staff from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). They were the winners of the 2007 UKTI South West competition to find UK entrepreneurs of the future.
Read about how the "Soapstars" won the competition
Photograph: Students and staff from Hayle Community School with the British Ambassador in Madrid
The UKTI competition challenged school students to come up with a business idea and form companies capable of selling a product or service into Spain. The students took part in workshops designed to help them develop their product or service and understand some exporting practicalities. The companies then had to work on a presentation (in Spanish and English) that would demonstrate the market research they had carried out, the unique selling point of their product, their proposed route to market and their pricing decisions. On the final day of the competition the companies had to make their presentations via video link to the UKTI judges at the British Embassy in Madrid. ‘Soapstars’ were the clear winners.
Emma Bates, Taylor Blake, Ryan Elliott, Daniel Mayho, Natasha Parcell and Luke Rudkin formed their company ‘Soapstars’ in September 2007 and went into the production of environmentally friendly soaps in interesting shapes and colours.
During the visit, UKTI’s Rose Brooman, Shona Brown and Kerry Farrell talked to the students and their teachers about how UKTI helps British companies do business in Spain. ‘Soapstars’ gave a brilliant presentation, explaining how their business has moved on since they won the competition. In fact, they have now blossomed into ‘Forever Flowers’ because insurance problems temporarily halted soap production. Undaunted, the company filled the gap when they spotted an ideal gift product they could sell for Mother’s Day and Easter. They sourced beautifully shaped (artificial) roses made from natural products and added value by scenting and gift-wrapping them. Success has followed with huge sales - 2000 in 2 hours at a local trade fair. The company is going from strength to strength and is about to represent Cornwall in a Young Enterprise competition.
The Ambassador said she was pleased to have the chance to meet the group and to see the students engaged in such an exciting initiative. She was impressed by their commitment to develop and sell environmentally friendly products and that they are doing their bit for the economy of the South West of England, whose export performance is weak in comparison with other UK regions. She stressed the importance of our young people learning a language other than English to be able to compete in an employment market where young people from other EU countries leave university not only with a degree but fluent in other languages.
The students were accompanied on the visit by John Topham, Deputy Head, Jo Roberts, their Spanish teacher and Karen Burton, who helped them start their business. The whole group had a great time: Ryan said, ‘Brilliant day! Thank you.’
‘I learnt a lot, especially that we can’t expect to talk to business people in English all the time,’ said Dan. ‘ … and need to understand the culture,’ added Taylor.
‘Visiting the Embassy was fantastic but meeting the Ambassador was the icing on the cake,’ said Taylor.
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