The Wilsons Student Enterprise from Hungary competed in London for the European Company of the Year 2013 Award supported by the Citi Foundation

September 10, 2013

12 secondary school students of the Alternative Secondary School of Economics (AKG) in Hungary, forming The Wilsons Rt., along with teams of over 250 young entrepreneurs from 35 European countries were competing at Wembley in London from July 17-19, for the Junior Achievement – Young Enterprise Europe Company of the Year 2013 Award. The program was supported by the Citi Foundation.

Europe’s most prestigious youth business competition organized by Young Enterprise and its sister charity Junior Achievement Europe is celebrating the most innovative and creative mini-companies set up by young people from across Europe. The winning team was Estonian company 3 Little Pigs that offers science shows to children aged 6-12.

Aftab Ahmed, Citi Country Officer for Hungary said, “Future economic growth relies on young people having the skills necessary to succeed in the working world. Many of the skills needed for a successful career are difficult to teach in a classroom and can only be developed through experiential learning; that’s why the Junior Achievement European Company of the Year program is making such a difference – young people learn through practical experience. The Citi Foundation is proud to support Young Enterprise and Junior Achievement. By doing so we know we are making an investment in the future of thousands of young people, as well as that of our own company and the communities where we all operate.”

Member of the The Wilsons team, Flora Hann, said, “Our aim is to raise environmental awareness and we emphasize the importance of recycling by turning used tennis balls into a small accessory to hold one’s small belongings and decorating them in very diverse ways. The special theme of our latest collection is intercultural tolerance. By setting up and running a real enterprise we have not only learnt the basics of business but also gained a lot of life skills. The whole team worked very hard and was very focused at the London competition which was a real challenge for all of us, and it was an experience we will never forget.”

The competition aimed to showcase the talent of young people, from all backgrounds, and show what they can achieve when they are equipped with the right skills and working together as a team. It represents the coming together of a diverse range of young people who have gained teamwork, problem-solving, communication, people and business skills with guidance from the enterprise education charities and with the support of business mentors.

The event at Wembley also aimed to address the youth unemployment crisis in Europe by hosting a Global Leaders Forum, where top executives from some of Europe’s largest employers, including Citi, Hyundai and Hewlett Packard debated how public and private sectors could work alongside the education system to tackle the growing crisis of youth unemployment which is currently at approximately 5.6 million across Europe.