The student business ‘Phonic Farm’ impressed once again at the Area Heats to confirm their place at the Area Finals taking place on 25th April at Kingsweston House. On Thursday 15th March, the Young Enterprise Area Heats took place at the Bristol and Bath Science Park in Emersons Green.
The Area Heats were the chance for the 12 Young Enterprise teams in the Bristol area to showcase their product to a trio of judges but also present their business journey, successes and learnings in front of a panel of Dragons.
Bradley Stoke Community School’s student business, Phonic Farm, supported by local accountancy firm Dunkley’s, were one of the 12 teams competing for their place in the upcoming Area Finals. Only 8 of the 12 teams competing were going to be successful enough to proceed to the next stage of the competition.
Prior to the Heats, Phonic Farm spent the week preparing with various meetings being held to finalise stand design, prepare and rehearse their Dragons Den pitch but also swot up on the company report before the big team interview.
One of the main areas they focused on in the preparation stages was their stand design. They received a lot constructive feedback about this at the Cribbs Causeway trade fair and so wanted to make the stand as child friendly as possible. With this, the students decided on the theme of a ‘marketplace’ and came up with ‘Phonic Farm’s market’ which incorporated learning and fun.
After a busy morning of sourcing the final elements for their stand, the students heading off to the Science Park with their cars stacked high.
Once they arrived at the Bristol and Bath Science Park, they had little under an hour to make up the stand. The result was fantastic. The stand was full of colour, fun and Phonics. They incorporated bunting, drawers which had the 7-different pick n mix items in at child friendly heights, clear labels for each drawer, a ‘chalkboard’ price list, instructions about their purchasing process and a little shopping trolley (with duck teddy in the seat) to tie the whole market feel together.
The Phonic Farm marketplace stand with some of the company’s directors behind. From right to left we have Thomas Wheatly (Finance Director), James Thomas (Operations Director), Lily Whyler (HR Director), Billy Wilde (Managing Director) and Nicholas Mitchell (CSR Director).
Whilst Phonic Farm were setting up, so were the other student businesses and it was clear to see that they had some serious competition to contend with.
As soon as the clock hit 4pm, the competition started. The 12 teams, were divided into 2 groups, the first heading into their Dragons Den pitch and the second being judged on their trade stand. Phonic Farm were in group 1 meaning the long wait to be called to the Dragons Den began.
Before they knew it, Billy, Tom and Lily were collected by one of the Young Enterprise board members and taken to the Dragons Den pitch. 15 minutes later, they came out with massive smiles on their faces. It has clearly gone well! The rest of the team were delighted to hear this and gave them all that little extra confidence boost which helped them throughout the rest of the evening.
After a short break, the second round of judging commenced. This time, it was Phonic Farm’s turn to be judged on stand appearance.
There were three trade stand judges in total, each of them coming around to the stand at different times and with different questions. As the students didn’t know who the judges were, it was essential for them to remain professional and approachable.
Each time the judges arrived at their stand, the students presented themselves well and fully explained the product. The trade stand judges always had a smile on their faces when talking with the students, which was fantastic as you could see they liked the product, explanation and all the effort the students had made to make it child friendly.
As soon as the judging was over, it was a long wait to hear the results. Before you knew it, the moment came. All 12 teams were very anxious about finding out their fate.
The names were read out in no particular order…firstly Bristol Free School, followed by Bath College, Badminton, Clifton High School, St Bede’s, Colston Girls School…at this point only 2 spaces were left, and we hadn’t been called. The student’s hearts started to race! With several strong teams still to be called, it was very tense. The 7th team announced were Brimsham Green and finally, Bradley Stoke were called. They made it through!
When the scores were reveled, Phonic Farm placed 3rd out of the 12 teams and by quite a margin. They received 269 points out of a possible 350. This was a fantastic achievement and the comments they received by the judges supported this. One of the Dragon’s even stated how they had such a ‘solid business’!
The trade stand judges couldn’t have had higher praise for them.
“Phonic Farm’s product is an excellent idea to aid kids and have a fun activity to along with it. Their stand presentation was great, I particularly love the baskets to draw in the children and the bright colours. All the students are so passionate about their product which comes across so well in the interactive and engaging way they sell it to customers. It is a product which I can see going far and evolving in the future.”
Jeanette Hingley, Young Enterprise Trade Stand Judge
Overall it was a very successful evening and the students did themselves proud. The night and comments from the judges truly reflect the hard work the students have put in.
The next stop is now the Area Finals taking place on Wednesday 25th April at Kingsweston House. Wish them luck!