International Business Plan Competition 2010

3rd February 2010 - NFTE Ireland held the International Business Plan Competition in DCU where ten business battled it out to be crowned International Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The lucky winner received an all expenses paid trip to New York to be honoured at NFTE's Sixteenth Annual "Salute to the Entrepreneurial Spirit" Awards Dinner in April 2010.

Judges on the day were Andrew Fordham, Head of Business Marketing at Bank of Ireland, Rhona O'Connor, CSR Manager at Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and Pat Burke, Senior Partner at Grant Thornton.

The judges were tasked with a difficult decision and by all accounts the standard was extremely high.

The Winner!

We're delighted to announch the winner of the NFTE Ireland International Business Plan Competition is Sarah D'Arcy from St Dominic's Secondary School in Ballyfermot.

Sarah wowed the judges with her business "Wishing Wings" which is a retail business selling original hand made wire angel sculptures made primarily from recycled materials. Sarah makes these handmade sculptures herself and was inspired by her love of angels.

Sarah's business is not only commercially viable but is also giving back to society. Sarah donates 20% of all profits to Aware, a charity that helps with teen suicide.   

Congratulations to Sarah and a big thanks to the judges who gave up hours of their time to pick our winner!

Sarah commented on her trip to New York " It was an absolutely amazing experience, meeting up with young entrepreneurs from all over the world was so exciting, it was a huge celebration at the Mariott Marquis in New York and I'm very grateful for the opportunity"

Check out Sarah's website to see more of her products:

http://www.wishingwings.webs.com/