special edition July 2015
BUSINESSENTERPRISEBULLETIN
Sirallenge
T H E
Tom
HUNTER
h
C
AWARDS
SPECIAL
2015
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BUSINESSENTERPRISEBULLETIN
Sir
T H E
Tom
HUNTER
ge
n
e
l
l
a
h
C
2015
As part of his commitment
to mentor local pupils in
East Ayrshire, entrepreneur
Sir Tom Hunter has, over the
last three years, challenged
In the Dragons’ Den style contest
hosted by last year’s winners
Doon Academy, ten teams
representing the nine academies
and Park School, presented
their business plans to Sir Tom
and his panel of judges.
the Dragons
youngsters to come up
Sir Tom Hunter:Chair
with ideas for products,
Heather Dunk:
Principal, Ayrshire College
innovations or businesses
Willie Mackie:
Chair, Ayrshire College
of the future.
Marie Macklin:
Chief Executive, The Klin Group
David Ross:
Director, Keppie Design Ltd.
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the contenders
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Stewarton Academy
Flashfire – an innovative charging device which can be used while
camping. The product was designed to run purely from the heat of a
campfire and can charge mobile phones and GPS devices.
Lead Teacher: Mr Scott Robertson Pupils: Chris Burwood, Billy Brazier, Tamara Sommers
Doon Academy
Pre-printed revision flashcards for National 5 Business Management
– The educational flashcards, which could be easily adapted for other
subjects, were designed to help young people maximise their study time.
Lead Teacher: Mrs Tracy Allen Pupils: Shania Brown, Colin McDonald,
Elleis Peters, Carla Strachan
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Doggy Doo – electronic dog bag dispenser to tackle the problem of dog
fouling. The product, which is eco-friendly and powered by solar energy,
dispenses dog waste bags from a unit which would be located in local
parks and public areas.
Lead Teacher: Mr Cameron McClurg Pupils: Craig Denim, Grant Semple,
Jack Mains, Scott Mains
Park School
BaDG3R – an innovative ID badge with pen holder designed to stop
teachers and employees from ever losing a pen again.
Lead Teacher: Mr Colin Livingstone Pupils: Ryan Doran, Calum McClellan, Dale
Cunningham, Heather Wallace, Aarron Buckley, Joshua Lawrie
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the contenders
Kilmarnock Academy
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the contenders
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Cumnock Academy
Cumnock Plastic Products – a bespoke range of products produced in
school by pupils. The team, which included pupils with additional support
needs, worked with local businesses to create and sell promotional items
which raised funds for the school’s Business and Technologies Faculty.
Lead Teacher: Mr Lindsay Bull Pupils: Cerys Gordon, Abigail Sutherland, Kelsie Ronald,
William Shedden, Heather Currie, Lee Jennings
Loudoun Academy
ATTYRE – bespoke designs for car bumpers and wing mirrors. The team
designed state of the art custom skins to enhance the look of a car and
create an image more suited to the driver’s personality. Cars would be
transformed from drab to fab.
Lead Teacher: Mr James Morrison Pupils: Jack Loudon, Tommi McMillan-Grant, Christie
Boylan, Amy Davidson, Claire Forsyth, Morgan Gregg,
Morton Kenny, Cameron McKinney
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The team created a wearable early warning system that helps to
prevent skin cancer by alerting the wearer to their UV exposure.
Lead Teachers: Mr David Ritson & Ms Rachel Woodward Pupils: Kuda Tapatapa,
Tatenda Tapatapa, Kieran Fenton, Becca Bunten, Chloe Beveridge
Auchinleck Academy
G4meZilla – a multi gaming app available for all smartphone platforms.
The app included two games called shuttleshooter and stickman2,
available on free download. Each month new games would be released
charged at £1 per download and the team also offered a yearly
subscription for users.
Lead Teacher: Ms Amanda Hammersley Pupils: Frazer Bryden, Dylan Malone,
Connell Morton, John Watt
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the contenders
St. Joseph’s Academy
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the contenders
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James Hamilton Academy
A fun, unique food spread product with a conscience – The team, which
was called the Inspreadables, designed an insta-spread product which can
be used like a paint roller, dispensing of the need for cutlery when on the go.
Lead Teacher: Mr Neil Henderson Pupils: Amy Gold, Katie Greensmith, Mairi Thomson,
Connie McCrone, Erin Bingham, Rachel Anderson
Grange Academy
A social enterprise providing opportunity and equality for all which will
also incorporate minority and diverse sports – The team aims to establish
a centre where sporting goods could be sold and where a coaching
service could be offered. Any profits would be used to provide sporting
equipment in disadvantaged areas.
Lead Teacher: Mr Scott McGarvey Pupils: Matthew McConnell and Euan Smith
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“This Challenge isn’t
about creating a
conveyer belt of
entrepreneurs; it is
about working with
sector leading local
authorities like East
Ayrshire Council
who share a vision
for the future
of education.”
Sir Tom Hunter
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UV ARMOUR
wins Dragons’ Den event
After an evening of inspirational and brilliant ideas,
St Joseph’s Academy emerged as overall winners
of the 2015 Sir Tom Hunter Challenge, where
budding young entrepreneurs pitched their business
ideas in a bid to win the top prize of £3,000.
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“I was fascinated
by both this
product and
by the team
themselves.”
This year’s winning team
scooped the prize for their
‘brilliant, stunning and really
ambitious’ idea for a high tech
UV early warning device.
The team, namely Kuda Tapatapa,
Tatenda Tapatapa, Kieran Fenton,
Becca Bunten and Chloe Beveridge,
designed a lifestyle product which
includes an app, a wristband and a travel
plug which provides an early warning
system for over exposure to UV rays.
They were tasked by their teachers to
develop an idea to raise awareness of
cancer and they went beyond the brief by
developing an idea to help combat cancer.
The device has a warning light which
flashes when sun exposure has reached
a certain point and advises the user to
seek shade. It can also link to a mobile
phone through a specially designed app.
Sir Tom Hunter was very impressed
by the team’s idea and their product
development. He also praised them for
seeking ways to market their product,
including securing endorsements
from extreme sportspeople, like local
kite surfers, who could potentially
make great use of their product.
Sir Tom Hunter said: “I was fascinated
by both this product and by the team
themselves. They carefully researched ideas
for a product and found that 13,000 people
die from skin cancer each year in the UK.
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“The team was diverse, comprising festival
goers and sports enthusiasts who all sought
a solution to the same problem - how to
keep safe in the sun. They developed an
impressive product and pitched their ideas
in a very professional style that would have
put seasoned presenters to shame.”
“The team
advised that they
are flexible to
negotiate with
Apple to develop
their product
further –
Apple will be
quaking in their
boots.”
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The judges, unable to choose between
the next two teams, awarded two second
place prizes of £1500 each to Doon
Academy, who created pre-printed
revision flashcards for National 5 Business
Management revision and Kilmarnock
Academy, who created Doggy Doo – an
innovative electronic dog bag dispenser
which is powered by solar energy.
The other seven schools’ presentations
were considered to be so good that
Sir Tom awarded them £500 each.
Ideas from the other teams included
Stewarton Academy’s Flashfire, an
innovative charging device for use when
camping; Park School’s Badg3r, an ID
badge with a pen holder incorporated
in the design; Cumnock Academy’s
Cumnock Plastics Products which
produces promotional goods for local
companies; Loudoun Academy’s ATTYRE
which involves creating bespoke designs
for car bumpers and wing mirrors; Grange
Academy’s sport based social enterprise
providing opportunity and equality for
all; James Hamilton’s unique food spread
product with a conscience and Auchinleck
Academy’s G4meZilla, a multi gaming
app available for all smart phones.
Sir Tom was so impressed by the
Auchinleck team that he is going
to organise an introduction to the
Minecraft producer for the boys – a
prize that money certainly can’t buy.
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The talented pupils of Doon Academy
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Sir Tom said: “This Challenge isn’t about
creating a conveyer belt of entrepreneurs;
it is about working with sector leading
local authorities like East Ayrshire
Council who share a vision for the future
of education and preparing our young
people for the ever changing workplace
through innovation; accepting that the
status quo just isn’t good enough.
“The workplace is changing all the time
and a job for life isn’t what our young
people can expect when they enter the
world of work. Realistically, in the future our
young people are going to work for small
businesses within smaller teams. That is
the ethos of this Challenge – small teams
working together to maximise efficiency,
develop a winning idea by being able to
problem solve effectively and importantly,
being able to present their ideas in front
of the judges and a packed audience
with confidence and professionalism.
“The teams showed all of this in abundance
and I was incredibly proud of their efforts
and their tenacity. As a young man
growing up in New Cumnock, my careers
advice consisted of – work in a factory
or work down the pits. These industries
don’t exist anymore and the future of
towns and villages in the Doon Valley
lies in the hands of our young people.
Based on what we’ve seen at this year’s
Challenge, the future of East Ayrshire,
and Scotland, is in very good hands.”
Councillor Douglas Reid, Leader of East
Ayrshire Council, who was joined at the
event by Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary
for Social Justice, Communities and
Pensioners’ Rights and local MSPs Willie
Coffey and Adam Ingram, said: “This was
a keenly fought competition, where our
young entrepreneurs had the opportunity
to demonstrate not only their business
skills, but also their fantastic creativity.
“Engagement with business is now
securely embedded in the school
curriculum and our vision is to ensure
that every pupil will develop the skills
and abilities for a successful career.
“Above all, we want to foster in our
young people that vital ‘can-do’ attitude
and positive mindset. Events like this
clearly show what a talented pool of
young entrepreneurs we have here.”
The Sir Tom Hunter Challenge formed
part of the Council’s sector leading
business enterprise programme, designed
to develop entrepreneurial skills and help
make young people ‘business ready’.
All school teams were invited to Sir
Tom Hunter’s E-spark Hatchery in
Dundonald for further mentoring.
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“Based on what
we’ve seen at this
year’s Challenge,
the future of
East Ayrshire,
and Scotland, is in
very good hands.”
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creativityinventiveness
ingenuity
imagination
insightvision
The Hunter Foundation
Investing in Enterprise & Education
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