LIVERPOOL kick-started Enterprise Week yesterday with teenagers competing to develop a winning tea.
Newly-opened teashop Brew, off Old Hall Street, challenged five schools to design and create a new loose tea which will be sold throughout December.
The challenge launched national Enterprise Week which brings together 75 countries to inspire and motivate people to be enterprising and entrepreneurial.
Students from Bebington High, Pensby High School, Carmel College, Broadgreen International School and All Saints High spent the day blending their perfect tea with the advice and guidance of Brew owner Phil Kirby.
A young-entrepreneur himself, Mr Kirby, 26, left a career in accounting to open his own business.
Two years after first coming up with the idea to open a shop selling tea, Mr Kirby said he was proud to have opened the UK’s only shop of its kind in the heart of Liverpool.
He said: “I love being creative and Brew lets me experiment with tea and interact with customers. It’s been hard work, working long hours, but I would definitely encourage anyone with an idea to set up their own business.”
Helen Kerr, from Make Your Mark, which helps provide confidence, skills and ambition to budding entrepreneurs, said new business start-ups were flourishing across Merseyside.
She said: “We have found that, when young people are involved in some form of enterprise activity such as Enterprise Week, they are more likely to enter an enterprising career.
“The most successful ideas are often when people develop business ideas from a hobby or use their employment skills to set up their own business.
“Despite the credit crunch, businesses are still starting up across Merseyside such as Brew which is showing how successful a small business can be.”
The North West will host the most events during Enterprise Week mak-ing it the most enterprising region in the UK, beating the South East, for the second year running.
Paul Corcoran, director of Agent Marketing will head a panel of judges who will decide on the winning brew later this week. A former student at Liverpool John Moores University, Paul helped establish Agent in 2006 and hopes his own entrepreneurial experience will inspire others.
TEA ROOM PRAISED: PAGE 9
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