Business-savvy primary school children from two schools in Powys have made it through to the national final of a competition.

Pupils from Welshpool CiW Primary School and Ysgol Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant were part of the top ten teams that made it to the Enterprise Troopers national final which was live streamed to a panel of judges at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Enterprise Troopers is an annual competition run by Big Ideas Wales, the Welsh Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship Service, and showcases the enterprising capabilities of five to 11 year olds from primary schools across the country.

Welshpool CiW Primary School’s team impressed the judges with their Be Plastic Aware Fair that aimed to educate and highlight the problem of plastic to the local community of Welshpool. At the final, the team were awarded the Environmental Award, as well as one of its pupils picking up the Outstanding Individual Star Trooper Award.

Meanwhile, Ysgol Llanrhaeadr Ym Mochnant’s team presented their business Sebon â Chalon, ‘soap from the heart’, which raised money for WaterAid by selling vegan soap in honey, raspberry and rose scented flavours and saw them pick up the Social Enterprise Award at the national final.

Minister for the economy, Vaughan Gething MS, said: “We want to see more young people setting up their own businesses here in Wales. So developing enterprise skills in these early years is crucial in order to inspire the next generation of savvy entrepreneurs to do just that.

"The Welsh Government is proud to be supporting this initiative, which gives our youngest pupils an engaging and exciting introduction to the world of business, allowing them to use their creative flair to tackle sustainability challenges and support their community.

“This link between schools and businesses is crucial in our efforts to develop a more entrepreneurial culture.

"Our schools have continued to work hard to help develop the entrepreneurial skills of our young people despite the challenges of the pandemic. Their resilience, and the talent of our budding entrepreneurs is clear to see from the standard of entry in the competition.”

Enterprise Troopers sees participating teams create and run their own enterprises, selling products or services of their choosing in their schools and local communities so they can develop key skills like team work, creative thinking and budgeting.

The competition recognises the work undertaken by schools to embed enterprise, aligned to the new curriculum and the work undertaken by schools to introduce these work related experiences at this young age.

Associate sponsor NatWest Cymru were part of the panel of judges and got to see first-hand the business ideas presented by Welsh primary school children.

Cheryl Gourlay, National Enterprise manager from NatWest Cymru, said: “It’s clear from the entries in this year’s Enterprise Troopers that there is really promising young business talent in Wales. As a bank we want to empower children and young people to understand their innate capabilities and to recognise key skills required in the future world of work.

"I hope every pupil taking part has grown in confidence and developed a love for enterprise that will set them up for continued success going forward.”

Enterprise Troopers is also sponsored by Cardiff Metropolitan University, Social Enterprise Stakeholder Group (SESG), Keep Wales Tidy, ECO Schools and Buffoon Media.

Big Ideas Wales forms part of the Welsh Government’s Business Wales service and funded by EU funds. The service is aimed at anyone between the age of five and 25 who wants to develop a business idea, including students and graduates.