A group of QE boys who reached the North London finals of the Young Enterprise Award have gone on to run their own professional company successfully for a year.
The 13 boys, all aged 15, came up with a novel idea to tackle bingedrinking, creating a beer mat ‘with a twist’. The Alcomat features the recommended alcohol consumption levels for men and women along with the unit content of the four most popular drinks, with advertisements on the reverse side.
Advertising was sold at 7p per mat – making a 2p profit per mat for the company. The mats were then given out free in local pubs, hotels and restaurants.
The product has received glowing accolades from big business. Tesco Chairman David Reid said: “Our experience of alcohol retailing over many years has led us to conclude that positive measures to educate consumers about alcohol, such as this one, can be most effective.”
The team, who called themselves Alcomat after their product, won the Barnet area Young Enterprise competition and only narrowly missed out on victory in the north London finals. QE’s Business Education teacher, Christina Wu, praised the students for their efforts: “All the boys are academically very strong, but this competition develops their leadership skills, initiative and creativity.”
- Read about Alcomat in the Barnet Times