Harrow College students have taken part in the final of Barclays Money Skills ‘Built for Business’ enterprise competition.
Four students from the Hair and Beauty department took part in the competition held at Barclays’ head offices in Canary Wharf on Friday 13 June.
The competition was aimed at developing students’ money management, employability and enterprise skills.
Level 2 Beauty students Genesis Williams, Janell English, Shantelle Layman-Boscio and Danielle Perry developed the idea of a ‘Pop-Up Salon’, a mobile salon offering low cost beauty services for people who cannot easily access such treatments, including those in hospitals and retirement homes.
All profits raised from the venture were later used to offer the services of the 'Pop-Up Salon' to patients and visitors at Great Ormond Street Hospital, including face painting for children and hand treatments for parents.
During the competition the students were given five minutes to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges, including Chris Hearn, head of education at Barclays, and Sylvia Perrins, CEO of the National Skills Academy for Financial Services.
Williams was glad to have taken part in the business challenge and said: “It was awesome and we enjoyed every minute of it.”
English added: “We all learnt so much throughout this whole journey and this was the icing on the cake.”
Coron Zammito, Hair and Beauty curriculum manager at Harrow College, who guided the students through their enterprise challenge said that she was impressed by the business aptitude her students had displayed.
“The team were fantastic and very professional. They were brilliant representatives of the Hair and Beauty department. I was extremely proud of what they have achieved.”
There were seven teams taking part in the final, and although Harrow College did not secure first place their entry was commended by the judging panel.
“It’s encouraging to have received so many high quality competition entries and clear that students have benefited from the enterprise focused resources provided to colleges through this year’s Barclays Money Skills ‘weeks’ programme,” said Perrins.