International Business Plan Competition 2012

2nd February 2012 - NFTE Ireland held the International Business Plan Competition in DCU where nine businesses battled it out to be crowned International Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The prize is an all expenses paid trip to New York to be honoured at NFTE's Nineteenth Annual "Salute to the Entrepreneurial Spirit" Awards Dinner in April 2012.

Aoife Maguire and Kellie Fitzgerald, both 16 and students at St Mary's Secondary School in Glasnevin were announced as the winners. They set up FingerTips last September which offers gel nail treatment for as little as five euro. They promote the business using posters and their Facebook page 'FingerTips NFTE.'

Aoife described their reaction on hearing the good news; ''Our teacher Ms Griffin rang us to say we had won. We began jumping around, screaming and crying. It still hasn't sunk in.'' Kellie says they are both very ambitious; ''We get our inspiration from our mothers who are both in the beauty and fashion business. We want to take business as a leaving cert subject and then go on to study it at third level. People have stopped pampering themselves since the recession started but now they can again thanks to FingerTips.''

Eight other businesses reached the finals of the competition which was judged by Hugo MacNeill of Goldman Sachs, Jennifer Heaphy from Coca Cola, Andrew Desmond of Accenture and Pat Burke from Grant Thornton.

The girls will get to meet young entrepreneurs from ten other countries when they attend the prestigous awards in New York on the 18th of April.

CEDEFOP, The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training have released a report on "Empowering the Young of Europe to Meet Labour Market Challenges" This publication includes 35 examples of policies and practices presented by their “owners” at the synthesis seminar organised by Cedefop on 28 February-1 March 2011 in Thessaloniki. The NFTE programme is mentioned on page 79.

Click on the link to read the report

A HUGE congratulations to all of the young people involved in The RDS Craft & Design Fair which took place on November 30th – 4th December 2011 at the RDS in Dublin. Some 90 young people involved from 15 schools and youth centres throughout Dublin, Tipperary & Cork were amongst the hundreds of designers, artists, and crafts people who took part in the country’s largest celebration of crafts. The annual fair is widely recognised as Ireland’s premier commercial craftwork showcase. In total, 50 businesses traded selling a collective total of €4,800 over the five days.

The young people really enjoyed the experience and it was a great opportunity for the budding entrepreneurs to hone their selling skills for future trading. Thanks to the organisers of the Craft fair for hosting NFTE's young entrepreneurs!

Two young entrepreneurs and members of NFTE's Alumni group were showcased at Ernst & Young "Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2011" which was broadcast on RTE 1 on October 20th 2011. Kyle McMahon from Bonnybrook Youthreach and Lauren McSharry from Foróige Killybegs were interviewed in their home towns as part of the programme. Click on the link below to see the clip.

NFTE Clip Ernst & Young Awards

NFTE is delighted to annouce we now have forty new CET's (Certified Entrepreneurship Trainers) on board to deliver the NFTE programme in locations throughout Ireland. NFTE University took place in Donegal and Dublin during the month of September.

NFTE University (NFTE U) is a ‘train the trainers’ programme for teachers and youth workers that deliver the NFTE programme throughout Ireland. NFTE University gives trainers hands on, experiential training enabling them to deliver the NFTE programme in their schools and centres using practical examples with a strong emphasis on young peoples interests and abilities. The intensive training course covers all aspects of entrepreneurship training including idea generation, market research, social enterprise, costings, product/service development, marketing and sales, communication skills, legalities and ethics in business and all topics are taught in a fun, interactive manner in keeping with the NFTE programme.

NFTE U participants came from all over the country including Dublin, Donegal, Galway, and Cork and we are delighted to announce the launch of the first NFTE programmes in Galway and Cork.

June 30th 2011

NFTE held an evening of celebration to honour four key donors who have enabled NFTE to reach hundreds of young people throughout Irleland in its bid to create the next generation of entrepreneurs.

NFTE Board with honoured donors, Tara O'Reilly (Citigroup), John Crimmins (Prospectus), Carmel Halpin (Accenture), Andrew Fordham (Bank of Ireland)

The event, knindly hosted by Citigroup honoured Bank of Ireland, Citigroup, Prospectus and Accenture for their continued support during the year.

Jessica Corbally, NFTE Student

The event was a huge success with board members, CET's, (Certified Entrepreneurship Trainers), corporate supporters, donors, young people and many more turning up to celebrate the success of NFTE.

Hugo MacNeill, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Ireland and Chairman of The Ireland Funds opened the event. A short video was launched highlighting some of NFTE's young go-getters.

Jessica Corbally, who set up her business "Vintage Boho" took to the podium to relay her experience of the NFTE programme and detailed how she found her calling through the programme.

We also heard from the donors perpective as to why they support the programme and what they beleive is key to the development of young people in Ireland today.

Click here to see NFTE Promotional Video

Maria Doherty (Manager, NFTE), Hugo MacNeill (MD, Goldman Sachs), Sean Campbell (CEO, Foróige)

Click here to read the full OECD Youth Entrepreneurship report