Primary school children from Monmouthshire have made it through to the final of a competition which aims to find and encourage the most promising young business talent in Wales.

Enterprise Troopers is an annual competition run by Big Ideas Wales, the Welsh Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship Service, and showcases the enterprising capabilities of 5–11-year-olds from primary schools across the country.

Pupils from Raglan CIW VC primary school are one of the top 12 teams that have made it into the Enterprise Troopers final which will be live streamed to a panel of judges at Cardiff Metropolitan University next month.

Raglan CIW VC impressed at the semi-finals with their eco-business ‘Bocs Cwtch’. In an effort to raise the spirits of their school and wider local community, the learners created a wellbeing hamper business, filled with treats from hot chocolate kits, play dough and positivity pebbles for children, to lavender bags, handmade soap and trinkets decorated with wellbeing messages for parents. All seven year groups from Raglan CIW VC contributed to creating a product to put in the hampers.

The learners then created an online catalogue to promote their products and went on to sell over 100 boxes. The bright business also captured the attention of Education Wales, who featured the product on their own social media sites. Raglan CIW VC used the money raised from their business venture to improve their playground, now that children are able to play outside with one another again.

Enterprise Troopers sees participating teams create and run their own enterprises, selling products or services of their choosing in their schools and local communities so they can develop skills like teamwork, creative thinking and budgeting. The competition recognises the work undertaken by schools to embed enterprise, aligned to the new curriculum, and the work undertaken by schools to introduce these lifelong skills at a young age.

Speaking about the innovative competition introducing young learners to entrepreneurship, Angie Smith, a teacher at Raglan CIW VC primary school said: “It has been a pleasure watching each year group from our school come together to take part in this year’s Enterprise Troopers competition.

“While this is a wonderful achievement for our learners, it has been even more rewarding for all of us to see the children using their newly found business skills to create a product that will help promote wellbeing in our wider community but in our school too. It has meant a lot to our learners.

“This is our third year taking part in the competition, and we’re still very proud to be a part of a something that encourages young learners to expand upon vital skills like teamwork, numeracy and creative thinking in a fun and empowering way. We can’t wait to follow the learners into the final and see their personal development and confidence excel as a result of this journey.”

Associate sponsor NatWest Cymru were a part of the panel of judges and got to see first-hand the business ideas presented by Welsh primary school children.

Cheryl Gourlay, National Enterprise Manager from NatWest Cymru said: “There are so many exciting business ideas launched by the learners this year, making it a very difficult competition to judge. Seeing the children present their innovative ideas with confidence and clarity is testament to their hard work, and each team should be very proud of what they have accomplished.

“As a business, we are very proud to support young learners to explore their entrepreneurial skills year upon year through the Enterprise Troopers competition and we look forward to following their academic and entrepreneurial journeys in the future.”

Big Ideas Wales forms part of the Welsh Government’s Business Wales service and funded by EU funds. The service is aimed at anyone between the age of 5 and 25 who wants to develop a business idea, including students and graduates.

To find out more about the competition contact https://enterprisetroopers.com/ or [email protected]