Young business brains with an eye for success will battle it out at Lancaster University in the regional finals of the Young Enterprise Company Programme.

Students from nine North West schools, colleges and Youth Zones, will do battle to be crowned Best Overall Company at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) on Wednesday, May 8.

All of the teams – from Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Lancashire – have spent the academic year setting up and running successful companies, and have come through local and county competitions.

The competition, supported nationally by HSBC UK, includes prizes for categories such as Marketing, Customer Service, Innovation and Sustainability, with each decided by judges from HSBC UK, Lyreco, the Department for Work and Pensions, and LUMS.

The winning team will go on to represent the North West at the Young Enterprise UK Company of the Year final in London in June, and could potentially represent the UK in the JA European final.

“It is a real honour for us to host the Young Enterprise North West finals here at Lancaster University Management School,” said Dr Casey Cross, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in LUMS, who will welcome the teams to the regional event.

“These students have already shown tremendous business acumen to set up and run companies covering such a wide range of products and services, and they should all be proud to have reached the North West finals.

“The Young Enterprise Company Programme will give them a great experience of being in charge of a business, teaching them lessons that we build on and examine with our own students here in our highly-ranked and respected business school.”

Young Enterprise is a national charity which works to equip young people with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to succeed in the changing world of work. This year, students across the country have set up almost 1,000 companies over the academic year, making all the decisions about their business, from deciding the company name and product, to creating a business plan, managing their finances and selling their products.

Among the teams who have made it to the North West final are Atmos, from Caldew School, Cumbria, who have developed environmentally-friendly, reusable bamboo travel mugs cups; and Supporting the Streets social enterprise, from St Christopher’s CofE High School, Accrington, who provide homeless people with rucksacks, fully stocked to meet their essential needs.

Young Enterprise research shows Company Programme participants develop key employability skills and a longitudinal study of Company Programme alumni has shown that in the two years following the programme, 94 per cent are in education, employment or training [EET] – five per cent higher than the national rate.

Michael Mercieca, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise, said: “Reaching the Company Programme NW final represents an inspirational journey with many months of hard work, teamwork, creativity and resilience.”

HSBC UK CEO Ian Stuart added: “HSBC has supported the Company Programme for the last 32 years with colleagues across the UK volunteering their time and expertise to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs. It’s fantastic to see students deal with real life business decisions and develop employability skills such as creativity, resilience and communication.

“The Company Programme is a great way for young people to prepare themselves for the future world of business.”

The teams competing in the North West Young Enterprise Company Programme Final are: Atmos, from Caldew School, Cumbria; Green Bean from Abbeygate College, Cheshire; Supporting the Streets social enterprise, from St Christopher’s CofE High School, Accrington; Stich Up, from Cockermouth School, Cumbria; Eco Cups, from Tytherington School, Cheshire; Dudle, from Inspire Youth Zone, Chorley; Warrior, from Withington School for Girls, Manchester; Eco Sippin, from Cheadle Hulme School, Greater Manchester; and Explore, from Bolton School for Girls, Greater Manchester.

Congratulations to the following teams:

The overall winners of the "Young Enterprise NW Company of the Year Final" were "Green Bean" from Abbeygate College Cheshire.

"Dudle" from Inspire Youth Zone, Chorley won "The Lyreco Award for Innovation".

"Supporting the Streets" from St Christophers, Accrington won "The Customer Service Award"