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22 May 2019
A team of entrepreneurial students from The Marist School, Sunninghill, have placed second nationally in their category in the Tycoon Enterprise Competition. Team Serenity, consisting of Year 12 students Charlotte F, Charlotte G, Claudine, Elizabeth, Hannah and Zoe, formed one of eight finalist teams in the national enterprise competition, founded by The Peter Jones Foundation.
The heart of the team’s business was mental health awareness. Serenity promoted calm through selling super-soft blankets, infused with lavender, designed to reduce levels of anxiety and stress. Following a busy period of trading during the autumn term, the business generated a revenue of £1,500 with 70% of all profits donated to the mental health charity, Mind. Serenity stood out amongst the 389 businesses taking part by “demonstrating incredibly strong enterprise capabilities and solid financial results”.
To celebrate their strong performance in the Tycoon 2K category, the girls were invited to attend the prestigious annual awards event held at Buckingham Palace. During the ceremony, the team had the opportunity to discuss their business venture with Peter Jones CBE and HRH The Duke of York KG, the Patron of the Peter Jones Foundation.
Summing up her experience of participating in this year’s Tycoon Enterprise Competition, Charlotte F said:
“Back in September, I could never have imagined that our company would have raised £1,500 of revenue, built awareness of mental health issues, and learnt so much in just a few weeks. If you haven’t taken part in Tycoon, you just don’t realise what a sense of achievement and empowerment you get. It’s an experience I’d thoroughly recommend.”
Speaking about the competition, Mrs Eileen Mullan, Teacher of Business and Economics said:
“We are delighted to celebrate Serenity’s success in this year’s Tycoon Enterprise Competition. This is the first year, as a school, that we have entered the competition and it has been wonderful to see the students grow in confidence and experience the journey of starting a business venture. The Tycoon Enterprise Competition truly complements the curriculum by offering practical life skills to our students.”
