Monday 11 May 2015 Students at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) have gone far in this year’s Leeds Enterprise Advisory Programme (LEAP), with a range of travel accessories that flew off the shelves. The company High Flyers was set up by a team of lower sixth students from GSAL under the LEAP scheme, through which students gain real hands-on experience of running their own business during one school year. In the end of year LEAP awards, High Flyers scooped four awards – Best Company Report, the Social Media Award, Best Presentation and the ultimate accolade of Best Overall Company. High Flyers turned a profit by selling a range of passport covers and earphones, with each team member assuming a key role in the running of the company, such as marketing, finance or social media. Libby Munro was the managing director. She said: “I thought LEAP was a great way to get some business experience before I apply to university for economics. We allocated roles according to the individual strengths of team members and everyone pulled together, from raising startup capital and choosing the product through to producing the company report and giving our presentation.” Olivia Houseman, who is studying art, was the clear choice for creative director. She said: “I sketched the designs for the passport covers and set up the website. We also had to be creative in our selling methods; I surprised the team by turning up to a trade fair dressed as a reindeer!” Phoebe Goldstone and Jaypreet Dhesi held the marketing brief. Phoebe said: “The questionnaire we devised for market research was critical in helping us select the right products, and social media was a great tool for promoting sales.” High Flyers’ social media guru was Immy Share, who said: “I was really happy to win the social media prize, following the success of our promotional video that got 1,400 views on Facebook. LEAP ran some useful seminars at Allerton High School which got us started, and I’ve learned how important social media is for modern business.” Finance director Lucy Adler said: “It was interesting to learn how to record accounts and LEAP helped with the tools to do this. The whole experience was a really good team building activity.” High Flyers are donating their profit to GSAL’s charitable project in support of communities in Malawi. The other team members are Grace Hall, who took on the role of sales director; Hollie Bruce, company secretary; Hannah Freeman, human resources; and Rosie Harris, production. General Sixth Form News
