Great Britain's young entrepreneurs rise to the litter challenge
Coca-Cola Enterprises Real Business Challenge partners with industry groups to raise awareness with younger generations
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has announced the return of its Real Business Challenge for the twelfth year running. The national enterprise competition is celebrating its most successful year yet, with over 870 secondary schools across 11 regions in Great Britain (GB) competing in a series of challenges which put students’ business skills and creativity to the test.
The competition will see student teams tasked with designing a litter awareness campaign which encourages members of the public in their local area not to litter. To support the challenge, CCE is this year partnering with a number of industry campaign groups including Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy, Hubbub and Clean Up Britain (CLUB). Representatives from these and other bodies will be on hand during the competition’s regional and grand final stages, dispensing expert advice to the students.
Coca-Cola Enterprises’ Real Business Challenge aims to inspire and educate young people, giving them the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities designed to develop the skills they need to have a competitive edge in the job market. Growing from strength to strength, the number of schools entering the competition has almost tripled over the past four years, with the competition now reaching close to 89,000 students.
Beginning this week, regional, Wales and Scotland finals will run between 28th January and 11th February, to determine which teams go through to the Grand Final in London on 16th March. Grand finalists will also participate in a Parliamentary Reception at the House of Commons, where they will present their litter campaign ideas to a host of MPs including Stephen Crabb, Secretary of State for Wales.
The Real Business Challenge forms part of CCE’s education programme in GB, The Real Experience, which also includes factory based Education Centres for school groups at all six of its manufacturing sites across the country. The business has invested £4 million in education over the past five years and has reached over 390,000 young people to date across GB.
Gina Solimeno, Education Programme Manager at Coca-Cola Enterprises GB, said: “The Real Business Challenge continues to go from strength to strength, and we are proud to help give young people vital ‘hands-on’ business experience through this programme. Education forms an important part of our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability commitments at CCE and we have worked hard to develop an initiative for students to increase employability and practice a wide range of business skills. This year’s challenge supports another core part of our sustainability work in GB which is focused on minimising our business’ impact on the environment. ,We are therefore thrilled to be partnering with Keep Scotland Beautiful Keep Wales Tidy, Hubbub and CLUB to raise awareness amongst young audiences of the great work they are doing to achieve our shared vision of a clean, litter-free Great Britain.”
Derek Robertson, chief executive, Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “I am pleased to have been able to support the Real Business Challenge again in 2016. The enthusiasm of the young people taking part truly inspired me. All those who presented their innovative ideas did so in a very professional way; they were a credit to their schools and to our country.
“Keep Scotland Beautiful works hard to empower young learners to take action and become advocates for a sustainable world. Through programmes such as this, we know that young people will gain an understanding of environmental and sustainability issues in a global and local context. This connected young people across education, business, civic society and community contexts, mobilises youth action and decision making, and supports the formation of key skills for living, learning and working in a complex and changing world.”
Lesley Jones, Chief Executive for Keep Wales Tidy said: “Keep Wales Tidy is delighted to be part of the Real Business Challenge. Through programmes such as this, young people have the opportunity to learn practical, real-life skills in a fun way while learning about the importance of sustainability and the environment. We work to engage, educate and empower young people to help safeguard our environment for now and for the future and the Real Business Challenge is a great way of doing this. I wish everyone involved the best of luck!”
John Read, founder of Clean Up Britain (CLUB) said: “We’re extremely pleased to be involved in the Real Business Challenge. Quite simply, it’s a tremendous example of a major corporation putting back into society. Young people need to be properly equipped to enter the world of work, and CCE’s competition challenges them to deploy a range of skills that will be required, such as team-working, leadership, time-management, presenting and others. The focus on litter this year is very welcome from CLUB’s point of view, as young people need to be educated about the importance of looking after the environment, which very much includes not dropping litter.”
Trewin Restorick, founder and chief executive, Hubbub, said: “Hubbub is delighted to be supporting the Real Business Challenge. It is a fantastic way for young people to gain skills, build confidence and create new solutions for a problem that impacts upon homes, communities and businesses across the UK.”
