Year 10 students at Mendip Studio School faced three “fierce dragons” as part of the Radstock and Midsomer Norton Rotary Club’s Big Pitch Project.
Eight teams of students presented their diverse, creative and polished business proposals to three judges, Richard Moon, Chairman of Advetec Global, Tim Cooper, Design Director at Bridges Electrical Engineers Ltd and Andrew Barker, The James Dyson Foundation and an audience of friends, family and business experts.
Students had refined their ideas and pitches during meetings with their mentors, were trained in “lean methodology,” reflecting on methods that shorten product and business development cycles to become more efficient with time, money and resources.
Mentor, Dom Chambers, Somer Valley FM, commented:
‘It is really fantastic that Mendip Studio School has encouraged the link between education and the business community, there is a wealth of knowledge and expertise available on the doorstep and projects such as these, can be of great benefit to students.
I was inspired by the creativity and energy from the young people and am very proud of my team who presented in a professional manner. All of the students have very promising, bright futures ahead’.
The winning pitch presented a new design in footwear with interchangeable soles, aimed primarily at skateboarders but also other sports people who go through shoes very quickly. The team won a trophy, sponsored by Craig Shaw, Advetec Holdings Ltd and a trip to Dyson Headquarters in Malmesbury transported in a stretch limousine, donated by Martin Spiller, Centurion Travel.
Judge, Richard Moon, Chairman of Advetec Global said:
‘‘The caliber of presentation far surpassed our expectations, the students designs were innovative, creative and exciting. It was a very difficult decision, students presented very in depth portfolios of work including a financial forecast, development plans and prototypes. For us the winning team demonstrated the best business intuition, we could envisage the product in the market place and were remarkably impressed with their use of 3D printers to build their prototype.
Winning Team student, Harvey Wynne, said:
‘It was really good experience and I have learnt a lot. The presentation was scary for the first few minutes but once we got into it, it was fun. The questions at the end were tough and you really needed to know all about your product, inside out and the market that you are selling in. I am really looking forward to our trip to Dyson and of course our Pizza afternoon with our mentors!’
