SIXTH-FORMERS from Stonyhurst College have won a Lancashire Young Enterprise Dragons’ Den-style competition after impressing the judges with their product.

The group from the private school took on their rivals at the event which saw the group pitch the idea of upcycling old Stonyhurst uniforms into items such as cushions.

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Lara Schick, Gereon Gaudig, Emily Cafazzo and Marco Troina, all 17, set up their company, Ad Mairoa, for the contest and presented their accounts, marketing ideas and their product.

The company name was inspired by the 400-year-old school’s motto “quant je puis”, which means “as much as I can”.

The youngsters faced tough questioning from “Dragons” Mark Hope of Stonehouse Logic Ltd, Bharat Parmar of Asda, Helen Shepherd of Pennine Fire & Safety Ltd and Andrea Smith of South Ribble Borough Council.

Debbie Kirkby, Stonyhurst’s head of enterprise and business teacher, said: “As a social-enterprise company, it is important that they also have a social objective, and the pupils aim to use their profits to support the improvement of education in developing countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe.

“Their mission statement is ‘great futures start here’. It has been a great opportunity for them to learn new skills of enterprise, teamwork and creative thinking and the feedback was excellent, including confident market analysis and full marks for their financial analysis.

“They are indebted to New Call Telecom who have been sponsoring the company this year.”

The fabric used for the girls’ uniform at Stonyhurst is a recreation of the pattern of a plaid suit worn by Bonnie Prince Charlie, who started an unsuccessful Jacobite uprising in 1745.

He wore it as he fled to the Scottish islands after defeat at the battle of Culloden in 1746.

Part of the original suit is on display at the school.

Cllr Janet Alcock, who represents Hurst Green on Ribble Valley Borough Council, said: “I would like to congratulate them on their success.

“Some people might accuse Stonyhurst pupils of living in ivory towers but this proves that they do live in the real world and are preparing for being business and enterprise leaders.

“It also shows that the pupils have great ideas that are attractive to others.”

  • Earliest evidence of a family living on the site occupied by the college dates to 1200.