Thursday, October 20, 2005

Westlake Girls Company Triumphs Again

A Westlake Girls High School company was the overwhelming winner of the North Shore Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme Awards for the second successive year. Following the success of its Unction company team in 2004, the Westlake Girls team, Adrial Enterprises, dominated this year’s prize giving held yesterday (19 October) at North Harbour Stadium.

In addition to winning the Enterprise North Shore Company of the Year Award, Adrial Enterprise won the Orcon Internet Award for Technology, the Spicers Wealth Management Award for Financial Performance and the Massey University Institute of Technology & Engineering Award for Creative Problem Solving.

Adrial Enterprises developed and marketed the A Trainer, a digital fitness trainer, with the Millennium Institute of Sport & Health and with the support of North Shore ISP, Orcon Internet. The A Trainer is a 30-minute fitness programme designed for Adrial Enterprises by fitness trainer Brad Conza and can be purchased in MP3 format and via the website, www.adrial.co.nz Adrial Enterprises was among 43 North Shore & Rodney secondary school teams that participated in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme during 2005. Each formed a business company to develop and market a business idea.

Alice Gatland, Adrial Enterprises’ Managing Director, praised the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme and the programme’s regional co-ordinator, Enterprise North Shore, for the encouragement of entrepreneurial skills among secondary students. “The Young Enterprise Scheme provides students with an opportunity to run a real business, albeit in a protected environment.”

The A Trainer has proven to be a particularly successful project for Adrial Enterprises. Earlier in the year, the team also won a series of Awards for various elements of its product development and planning work. These included the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme Oral Presentation Award, the Enterprise North Shore Business Planning Award and the Graphic Impact Business Card Award. Adrial’s Going Somewhere marketing campaign was also acknowledged when the team won the More FM Advertising competition, granting Adrial $5,000 worth of free radio advertising time.

North Shore City Mayor, George Wood, addressed the school teams, highlighting the value of the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme as a catalyst for economic prosperity. “Experiences in this programme will put you all in a good position for the future,” he said. "Playing our part in growing the economy is one thing to which we should all aspire, as it helps to boost New Zealand."

Enterprise North Shore Chief Executive, Terry Hoskins, congratulated all the school teams that participated in the 2005 programme, although he saved his highest praise for the winning team. “It really has been a particularly impressive all-round effort by Adrial Enterprises,” said Terry Hoskins. “Many other school teams were also very successful throughout the year.

But Adrial’s consistency in performance and the energy with which the team developed its business proposition and marketed its product is a fabulous example of why we believe in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme. All our school teams have learnt a great deal about running a small business and about life outside of school. It is an experience that many will value as they decide upon and pursue their own business careers.”

Enterprise North Shore believes that the success of Adrial Enterprises will spur more teams to participate in the 2006 programme. “The commitment of Westlake Girls High School teams has really set the bar for achievement,” added Terry Hoskins. “We anticipate that greater awareness of their efforts will encourage more school teams to participate at an even higher level next year.”

ENDS

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