Designing a new fragrance was one of four challenges posed to students at Ballakermeen, Castle Rushen and QE II high schools by Junior Achievement Isle of Man as part of its programme to find young entrepreneurs of the future.

In a move to equip young people with the skills for the world of work and encourage their entrepreneurial flair, Junior Achievement held a series of creativity workshops for year 12 students at three schools.

Students were formed into teams and instructed to develop one of four business ideas: design a new app for an iPhone, create a new energy drink, devise a new fundraising initiative for Junior Achievement or create a new fragrance. The teams benefited from support and guidance of volunteer business advisers from AD Hewett, Age Concern Isle of Man, Barclays Wealth, Friends Provident International, Hamblin, Nordea, Taxmann and Zurich.

Each team was challenged to put together a three-minute presentation on their product and at each participating school a judging panel selected the best presentation with the members of the winning team  receiving a 'goody bag' donated by Manx Telecom.

Junior Achievement Isle of Man chief executive Sue Cook said: 'These creativity sessions are a great introduction for students looking to enter the Company of the Year 2012 challenge as it helps show them what they need to do to structure a business plan and, crucially, demonstrates the importance of working as a team.

'What really came over during the workshops was how innovative and, it has to be said, off-the-wall, the ideas were. There was a sense of energy and creativity in the room along with genuine capability, especially the teams' grasp of technology when devising new apps. This is particularly encouraging, given that the Isle of Man is recognised as a jurisdiction that embraces new technology and e-commerce, markets for which there is increasing demand for young people with good IT skills.'

The Junior Achievement company programme is acknowledged worldwide as the leader in entrepreneurial education for young people. Research conducted in Europe has shown that more than 15 per cent of young people in the programme go on to open their own business compared to the national average of six per cent.

Junior Achievement Isle of Man's Company of the Year 2012 finals take place on March 14^th 2012, with the winning team going through to compete in the JA-YE (Junior Achievement - Young Enterprise) Student Company of the Year competition in Romania next summer.

In the 2010-2011 academic year Junior Achievement Isle of Man ran 150 classes in 18 schools, reaching more than 4,000 young people. Each year the charity needs to raise £300,000. For details of programmes, becoming a volunteer business mentor or helping raise funds, contact Sue Cook, suecook@jaiom.im, telephone 666266 or call in to Junior Achievement Isle of Man, Suite 2, Peterson House, Middle River, Douglas.

www.jaiom.co.im