Business leaders of future compete in South schools online contest
Young people from across the South of Scotland have received hands-on experience of running a successful business through a new interactive schools simulation competition.
The online contest saw six secondary schools take part in heats, with a team from Jedburgh Grammar Campus coming out on top in the grand final against a team from Dumfries Academy.
How did the competition work?
Each school team was given the task of running a virtual business and asked to make various decisions through an online learning training programme run by Scottish company GingrTech.
These decisions aimed to ensure the company continued trading and ultimately made a profit over a virtual 12 month period.
After each 26 minute round – which equated to 26 weeks of virtual trading - teams were given time to reflect and learn from past mistakes to improve their performance in future rounds.
Students performed various roles including being a CEO, and working in Sales, Delivery, Finance and Marketing teams.
At the end of the grand final which saw both schools trade for a virtual six month period, Jedburgh Grammar Campus ended with an overall net profit of almost £199,000, with Dumfries Academy close behind with £160,000 profit.
Who was involved?
The competition was co-ordinated by:
- business simulation games experts GingrTech
- South of Scotland Enterprise
- Developing the Young Workforce Dumfries & Galloway
- Developing the Young Workforce Scottish Borders
Other schools to take part in the contest were Lockerbie Academy and Dalbeattie High in Dumfries & Galloway, and Eyemouth High and Earlston High from the Scottish Borders.
South of Scotland Enterprise’s Entrepreneurship Lead, Kirstie Scrimgeour, said:
“It was fantastic to see young people from across the South take part in the business simulation competition, and find out more about what it takes to run a company.
“Working with partners, SOSE wants to help awaken entrepreneurial talent in the South, which in turn will help keep our young and talented people in the region, and help the South to flourish.”
Graeme Galloway, Developing Young Workforce Programme Director for Dumfries & Galloway, said:
“It was fantastic opportunity for young people to be exposed to business learning in a unique, immersive and exciting way.”
Nicola Shaw, Programme Officer with Developing Young Workforce Scottish Borders, added:
“We were delighted to have young people take part in this unique opportunity.
“It not only raised awareness of industry sector, there was an increase in senior students’ confidence and self-belief to what they can achieve and their broader ambitions.”
Elton Daddow, Commercial and Training Director at GingrTech said:
“We really enjoyed the opportunity to meet the stars of the future across the gameplay sessions, with all six schools and staff applying themselves wonderfully well.
“The performances from all competing schools were amongst the best we have experienced, which includes leaders and staff of organisations of all shapes, sizes and industries globally.”