ABBEY School students have bagged a profit, after forming new company ‘A Bags’ as part of their Business Enterprise programme assisted by Young Enterprise.

The programme is designed with three principle objectives in mind. The first to increase knowledge and develop life-skills and traits for all the students involved.

The second is to enable the students to apply and expand their cross curriculum learning including numeracy and literacy for a life beyond school, and the third is to empower them, in a way not readily available in a school environment, to learn how to take control and manage a project.

In November Connor, Reece, Maddie, Harry and Mark decided that they would design, make and sell reusable shopping bags – great timing as this was when supermarkets had started to charge 5p for their shopping bags and everyone wanted a cheaper, environmentally sensitive alternative.

Together the team came up with an attractive design and company logo, and ‘A Bags’ was born with the strap line ‘Together we can Bag it!’ - this ties in with the school motto - ‘Together We Can!’

The team got to work designing an attractive bag which could be made from recycling plastic bottles. The bag could be tucked away into a pouch, or slipped into a handbag, or pocket.

Suppliers were contacted who could make and print the bags, and a contract negotiated for the first 100 bags.

The tricky part was the finances, the students learnt that by answering some basic questions, such as ‘How much is all this going to cost?’ and ‘Where will we get the money from?’, a plan could be put together.

Armed with this information the team organised a Dragon’s Den presentation to potential investors. The investors were so impressed by the concept, the passion and commitment of the team that they pledged a total of £500 – enough to cover the initial expenses and the cost of the first 100 bags.

The sales soared straight away, and the first assignment of 100 bags has nearly been sold, with the added bonus of some very positive feedback from satisfied customers. The company has made a profit and will be able to pay a dividend to its shareholders who believed in the company from the start.

The team enjoyed spending time creating and running A Bags, and learnt a great deal about business and working together as a creative team.

Business Enterprise is designed to aid the transition from education into independent living and employment by developing relevant and appropriate skills for life.