Bath College Business Entrepreneurs enjoy sale success at The 2019 Bath Christmas Market

Two teams from Bath College’s BTEC Level 3 Business course have spent the last three months creating their own businesses in the lead up to The Bath Christmas Market. Each team had a Managing Director, came up with a team name and product idea, followed by a business and financial plan for how their business would run.

During the months leading up to the Christmas Market they have been working hard behind the scenes, alongside lectures and project work, coming up with posters and sourcing materials to make their products. Once they had completed their business plans they went head to head for the first time, competing for a £50 investment from Metro Bank. This £50 would be a baseline cost to buy materials for their products and print posters and flyers. The pitch to Metro Bank was styled like Dragons Den, with the two teams outlining their business plans and financial forecasts to the Director and Manager of Metro Bank, Chris and Yani. Chris and Yani couldn’t pick a winner and so agreed to invest £50 in both teams.

The teams worked closely with local businesses and business leaders, in particular Taste of Bath and Minuteman Press. Helen from Taste of Bath, who had held a stall at The Bath Christmas Market a few times, shared her knowledge of how to sell and grab people’s attention at The Christmas Market, as well as provide advice on their products and set up. She also introduced them to Dave at Minuteman Press, who provided large posters free of charge to help their stall stand out. The team at Minuteman also helped with printing the teams hand drawn cards, and Helen from Taste of Bath visited the students at their stall to motivate them and give them some last minute pointers.

Helen said: “It’s been wonderful to see the Bath College Business students grow in confidence over the months leading up to the Bath Christmas Market, and now all their hard work has paid off and they have had a successful two days of sales.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the process, and I’m glad that I’ve been able to help and offer advice on both their products and The Bath Christmas Market, well done Bath College Entrepreneurs!”

The two teams ran the Charity Chalet at The Christmas Market on Wednesday evening (residents night) and all day on Thursday. Team one named themselves ‘Eutur’ and ‘Giving Gifts’; Eutur sold beautifully scented and festively wrapped Reed Diffusers, and was made up of Fergus Blythe (Managing Director), Dala Hodgson, Emily Hayden, Will Davis, Will Dugan, Eleanor Higham and Alex Godrige. Giving Gifts were selling hand drawn Christmas Cards and an array of beautiful jewelleries, they were made up of Ben Betteridge (Managing Director), Freddie Coulson, Emily McCarthy, Mitch Hooper, Kirsten Harkness, Libby Cartwright and Jack Ewings.

Between the two teams they made a total of £697 over the two days, and each team will be donating 50% of their proceeds to a chosen charity. Eutur have chosen to donate 50% of their proceeds to Make a Wish, whilst Giving Gifts will donate 50% to The Childrens Hospice South West. It’s been a fantastic experience for the students, the Bath Christmas Market is well attended by residents and tourists alike, and they have had the opportunity to network and collaborate with local businesses.

Kate Knights, Business Lecturer who has led on this project said: “Our BTEC Level 3 Business Students have been working tirelessly for the last 3 months in preparation for this event, doing everything from bidding for investment to market research to manufacturing the products themselves.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the hard work they’ve put in and it’s been great to see them reap the benefits and be quite so popular at the market”

The students worked extremely hard, working through a drizzly first evening, and a very busy second day.

Team Giving Gifts Managing Director Ben commented: “I’ve learned how competitive Market stalls are and the importance of good advertising"