Young Enterprise Team are crowned Staffordshire Winners

Young Enterprise, a nationwide initiative to actively teach business skills to young people, with mentoring from industry leaders, has awarded three prizes to King Edward VI School, Lichfield for creating a company focused on anti-spiking drink products. 

The team from KES came away with a hat-trick in the Staffordshire heat of the competition including the top prize, Best Overall Company. 

The students created their company SIP, (Spiking Impact Prevention) with a goal of preventing the impact of drink spiking. The group of 14 sixth form students created a convenient kit for safer nights out. It includes drink covers, test strips, and personal alarms — practical items that are all packaged together in one affordable, easy-to-use and accessible kit. 

The awards on Tuesday 9th April 2025 at Staffordshire University also recognised SIP for Best Sales and Marketing – for clear branding and eye-catching visuals, and Best Company Report – for the quality and professionalism of its written report. 

Winning Best Overall Company, and progression to compete in the next round, is a proud achievement for the SIP and its school. The team said: 

We’ve been working on the business since September, and it’s been a huge learning curve. One of our biggest challenges early on was communication—we nearly missed a few deadlines and our meetings weren’t productive. Over time, we worked on that, became more organised, and started making real progress.

The judges gave us great feedback, including ideas for improving our product and how we present it—but overall, they saw real potential in our business, and that’s something we’re really proud of. 

Preparing for the competition wasn’t easy. Our presentation started off rough, but the team pulled together and built something we were genuinely proud to deliver. It told the story of our business, the problems we’ve faced, and our highlights—like selling over £100 worth of stock at the Potteries Centre Trade Fair and winning Best Trade Stand. 

As the team prepare for the Midlands heat, its product is now launched and available to purchase through its website www.spikingimpactprevention.co.uk.