Ellie Heatherill, 15, a pupil at Greenbank High School in Southport, successfully competed against students from other Sefton schools in a competition organised by the Sefton Education Business Partnership.
The competition aimed to inspire Sefton’s young people to become entrepreneurs of the future. Adopting a style similar to the BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’, entrants came up with an idea for a mobile application which they pitched to a panel of judges.
Ellie’s winning idea, ‘BeatX’, impressed the panel of judges, who commended her on her natural business acumen. Her application involves beating celebrities’ scores at certain games. The celebrities would receive a fee for each app sold which they could donate to a charity of their choice.
She explained, “I saw a gap in the market while conducting my market research, and really thought it would be a great game to develop. I ran focus groups with some of my friends and they really liked it, too.”
Her app will be developed by mobile applications business, May Contain Nuts Inc. earning her a share of the profits. But, the challenge now for the young schoolgirl is to convince celebrities to feature in the game she has worked so hard at developing.
“I’m a huge Liverpool fan, so I really want to start with asking Liverpool Footballers to appear in the game. It would mean so much to me if they supported my idea!’
Dylan Thwaites, a former Entrepreneur Of The Year and director of May Contain Nuts Inc. explained his reasons for setting up the scheme. He said: "One of my goals is to help young people realize their potential. Sometimes kids just need that window of opportunity to prove themselves, and to encourage them to try for whatever they want to aspire to in their lives."
Ellie hopes her success will encourage other young people in Sefton. She plans to go on to study A Levels at Sixth Form College, whilst continuing to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams. However, her present dream is to find the celebrity who will enable her app to become a reality.
David Pollock, Cheshire around 1 year, 2 months ago