Young Enterprise company from Lisburn, ActiKids, were celebrating on Thursday 2^nd July as they received two awards at the Young Enterprise UK Company of the Year Awards in London.

The group of 17-18 year old students from Friends’ School have been working with Young Enterprise since October last year to start and run their own business with support from the charity’s volunteer business mentors.

They published ‘Around the world in 50 pages’, a children’s travel journal and sold them at Young Enterprise sales events across Northern Ireland and have even secured their book in two high street retailers.

They became the first company from Northern Ireland to receive an award at the UK-wide competition for 20 years, as they took the production award.  The company’s Managing Director Jake Lewis commented “We were particularly excited to with the Production Award. ‘Around the World in 50 Pages’ was designed by our team and we held a competition among the younger classes at our school to design the mascot featured on the cover.  The book was printed locally too, so it’s been a real team effort and a shared success for us all!  We’re absolutely delighted to win this award.”

Jake himself was also presented with the Founder’s Award on the night.  The award is presented in memory of Sir Walter Saloman – who founded the UK arm of the charity in 1962 – to a young person who has displayed personal development and leadership throughout their time working with the charity.

The winning MD said “ActiKids has been a team effort throughout this whole journey, so to win the Founder’s Award is a fantastic achievement for me personally, but is a testament to the whole team.  I really feel that I’ve grown as a leader throughout the Company Programme experience, and developed skills that I’ll carry with me through my future in education and work.  The experience has been fantastic and something I’ll always remember.”

Visit YENI.co.uk to see how you can get involved with Young Enterprise, empowering young people with the skills and confidence to succeed in life and work.

Young Enterprise NI is part funded by the Department of Education.

-ENDS-

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Notes to editors:

Young Enterprise is a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity.  The organisation operates under licence to Young Enterprise UK, and is part of Junior Achievement – Young Enterprise (JAYE) globally, with a purpose to inspire young people to engage in enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Young Enterprise NI media contact:

Alastair Luke, Stakeholder Engagement Officer, Young Enterprise NI
Tel: 028 9032 7003     Email: alastair.luke@yeni.co.uk     Twitter: @YE_NI