Made in Braintree - The Final

On Friday 28th March, our students showcased their creativity and business acumen in the Regional Finals of the "Made in Braintree" Competition. After outperforming all other participating schools, only our three teams remained in the competition, demonstrating their exceptional dedication and innovative thinking. Students were tasked with presenting their vision for a Sustainable Community Space, designed for an empty lot in Braintree Village. The three teams delivered presentations, impressing the judges with their originality and commercial viability:

Team 1: Sound Station - Lily May Young, Zane Miller, Ellen Mitchell, Leland Osborne and Mione Biss proposed a sustainable music shop where customers could loan second-hand instruments, purchase apparel such as T-shirts and bags (demonstrated by the students), and buy or trade vinyl records. Their presentation was complemented by an impressive 3D model of the shop, showcasing their attention to detail and commitment to sustainability.

Team 2: Dunamis: Smoothies by Day, Cocktails by Night - Lily Barrett, Patrick Dyball, Lawrence Donovan, Emiliano Vizitiu and Noah Holliday

presented a business model focused on sustainably sourcing local fruits and vegetables from Essex farmers. The team planned to give back to the farmers by returning compost made from the waste products. Their professional presentation included a taster session for the judges, served in their own branded Dunamis cups.

Team 3: ‘Fro’ Frozen Yogurt - Yamina Ramadassou, Sydney Thorn and Isabelle Woodward introduced a trendy frozen yoghurt concept, identifying a clear gap in the local market. Their presentation highlighted how far customers would need to travel to find a frozen yoghurt shop, proving the demand for their business. They also proposed innovative themed menus to encourage year-round sales, demonstrating their strategic approach.

While the judges - comprised of managers from Ahead Partnership, Landsec, and Braintree Village -deliberated, students participated in engaging workshops on delivering professional business pitches. The decision was incredibly difficult due to the high standard of presentations, but ultimately, Sound Station was declared the winner, recognised for the commercial viability of their idea.

The event concluded with students enjoying pizza and receiving goody bags, courtesy of Braintree Village. All students displayed remarkable professionalism, dedication, and teamwork. Their hard work over the last five weeks, spending every lunchtime in Ms. Morgans’ room refining their ideas, truly paid off. We are incredibly proud of our students for their outstanding efforts and exemplary representation of our school.

The Sound Station team therefore progressed to the next stage, an online presentation against all the other regional winners from across the country. They achieved a very impressive fourth place, just missing out on reaching the National Final at Landsec HQ in London as one of the top three teams, but they should be very proud of their performance and for being such amazing ambassadors for our school.