High-flying students to trade in Zurich

Business-minded students with a head for enterprise are preparing for a trip to Switzerland to attend the JA/YE Europe Trade Fair being held in Zurich next month.

Five public services students at Coleg Sir Gâr’s Graig campus in Llanelli will be travelling to the international trade fair at the end of March, for a three-day trip where they’ll promote their business, called Gifts Made Easy.

“Representatives from the UK are limited to four organisations per year, so we’re thrilled to be going,” said public services and business lecturer Amanda Morgan.

The event is run by Young Enterprise, the UK’s largest business and enterprise education charity and is being hosted by Young Enterprise Switzerland. With around 30 other countries competing for business at the fair, the competition is set at an international level and is the premier European trading opportunity for Young Enterprise companies.

Amanda Morgan added: “This isn’t a made-up business; students have polished their sales pitches in local trade events where they’ve sourced and sold products to fundraise for Gifts Made Easy and have created a Facebook page for potential customers.

“The concept of the company is to provide a high-class gift finding service where the company is briefed by a client, allocated a budget and the company does the leg-work in finding not just an ordinary gift, but a selection of unique products or services targeted towards an individual.”

Former Coedcae student Josh harries, who is finance director for Gifts Made Easy, said: “It’s quite a nerve-wracking yet exciting event to be going to. We’re pretty prepared though as we set up Gifts Made Easy last October and within our group of 23 students, we’ve set up a board of directors and various departments such as sales and finance, so we all take responsibility for its future success.”