Move over Lord Sugar: Meet the pupils running their own business in school

The pupils at Park Special School could teach The Apprentice contestants some key things about business acumen.

A company set up and run by pupils at the Belfast school recently won two top prizes at the Young Enterprise Northern Ireland Awards.

Their company, called Where's Ma Keys, makes and sells gifts, keyrings and sensory items.

And they used the £1,700 profit they made to buy every other pupil in the school an Easter Egg too.

According to 19-year-old Ritchie, from Where's Ma Keys, the company was set up to tackle one of life's common frustrations.

"We're a company that takes value in trying to help people find their keys because I lose my keys all the time," he said.

"We've decided to help people find their keys easier and why not sprinkle a bit of sensory awareness as well."

Ritchie said some of the keyrings are uniquely designed to help people if they feel anxious or stressed.

"With our company we focus on sensory-based objects because we're part of a special needs school," he said.

"People learn in a multitude of different ways and we find it easier with sensory based stuff.

"So having even simple beads, having them in their hands while they're trying to learn maths or English or anything helps them focus and helps them understand that anxiety is normal and people have it all the time."

So the keyrings include fishes made of beads or smoothly-shelled turtles to touch and hold.

And 19-year-old Corey's role was to work on the manufacturing of the goods.

"I was in charge of making resin, such as turtles and stuff and letters, initials," he said.

"It feels like we're working as a team, I'm very proud of my team."

"We all know to help each other out when we need it."

Corey said that being presented with the award for best overall team and best presentation in the UK in the ceremony at Belfast City Hall was "different level".

But it was 17-year-old Darren's job to keep an eye on the money.

"I am the financial manager, so I check how much cost our products are," he said.

"We've made about £1,700 in profit, which is massive.

"I think our most popular thing is our fishes.

"One of the customers said we should make a big fish, the Belfast fish, and it's been selling loads!"

Darren said that they wanted to give something back to the pupils by using the profits for everyone.

"We wanted to be kind and give out to the whole school as a thank you, with Easter Eggs," he said.

"They really loved it and I loved it too."

It is not the first time a team from the school has tasted business success.

Teacher Jill West said that the idea for the new company came from students noticing "a bit of a trend of keychains on school bags".

"The students actually set up a business and run it as a business so they learn about resilience, things that go wrong, they also learn about teamwork, finance, branding, budgeting," she said.

"But I think the most important thing for them is the confidence they gain from it."