16508YOUNG businessmen and women were getting a taste of the retail market in Trowbridge at the weekend.

Teams of students taking part in this year's Young Enterprise competition were in The Shires shopping centre on Saturday to unveil their products to the world.

Brendan Wall, chairman of the Central Board of Young Enterprise, said: "It was very successful and all the groups did really well.

"It was nice to see so many staff from all the schools supporting the young people and there has also been a lot of support from local business.

"It is a really good competition, although the emphasis is definitely more on the taking part than on winning."

The cup for the best over-16s entry went to IDentity of The George Ward School, Melksham.

Two teams from St Augustine's Catholic College in Trowbridge walked away with awards.

The best under-16s cup went to YushiMoush, a candle making company, with the Labyrinth cup for service excellence being presented to Zedna.

Hugh Nowlan, Young Enterprise co-ordinator at St Augustine's said: "I think they have done extraordinarily well. It is a challenge to learn how to work as a team and they have managed to pull it off."

There were nine teams taking part in the event altogether, including groups from St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, Stonar School, Atworth and Dauntsey School.

The youngsters taking part have been working on developing their businesses since September.

They all had to come up with a marketable idea and appoint key roles within the group, such as company director, finance officer and marketing manager.

They then had to carry out market research to gauge if the product was likely to be success before going ahead and manufacturing it.

Products can be anything from scented candles and game cards to t-shirts and jewellery.

The area final will be held at the Civic Hall, Trowbridge, with the young entrepreneurs giving a presentation on their business as well as displaying the product on a trade stand.

The winners will then have the opportunity to go on to the national, European and even the International finals.