STUDENTS from Appleby Grammar School have become the first ever from Eden to take the county title in a competition to find top young tycoons.

The youngsters, who have run a business called Supernova in their spare time since September, covered themselves in glory at the Cumbria final of Young Enterprise.

They beat off competition from four rival companies, which had all won through following success in the area heats of Young Enterprise.

The 14-strong team, which pocketed £100 prizemoney, now goes forward to represent Cumbria at the regional final, due to be staged at Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park stadium on June 28.

Appleby Grammar assistant head teacher Keith Scott paid tribute to the "tremendous team effort" of the Year 12 students, saying: "They have a lot of talent and they channel it well. We have high hopes that they will do well in the regional final. They want to win that and go on to the national final in London."

Mr Scott said claiming the county title was a notable achievement, adding: "We are a relatively small school compared with a lot of the competition. When you put us into the county context, it's quite outstanding."

During the year, Supernova made a profit of £1,001, selling a variety of products, from hand-painted mirrors and gift cards to personalised key rings and cork notice boards.

And the team certainly caught the eye during their end-of-year presentation at the county final, held at Kendal Leisure Centre on Friday night.

Clad in all-black suits and addressing the audience in American mobster-style accents, they employed style and humour to recount what they had learned from being in business.

The judges Fay Davies of Cumbria Business Education Consortium, Paul Evans from Furness Building Society, and Steve Hill of Kendal College praised Supernova for being a very successful company achieving "fantastic" market penetration in a small community.

While Supernova's presentation was praised for its entertainment value, the judges were also impressed with the team's company report and trade stand on the night, which both counted towards the top prize.

Students from Kirkbie Kendal School, trading as Big Cheez who won the South Lakeland area heat of Young Enterprise - were congratulated for the quality of their products, which included travel cushions and decorated photo frames.

Barrow area winner Yegg Products, run by apprentices from BAE Systems, took the prize for best administered company from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Yegg's finance director Chris Irvine also collected the individual honour of top achiever of the year and a £50 cash prize.

Lakes Mosaics, from Whitehaven School, received the quality award for its range of tiles. Completing the final line-up was Panacea of Nelson Tomlinson School, Carlisle.

How Young Enterprise works...

SIXTH formers are invited to form their own company, choose a name, identify the roles of directors and elect colleagues to the various posts.

They then sell shares to family and friends to raise some capital and decide what products or services to sell.

The students must then work on every aspect of running a business, from doing market research, organising production and marketing, and carrying out financial management and quality control.

After seven months of trading, the business must then compile a ten-page company report and give a five-minute presentation on their experiences of running a business.

They then liquidate the business and, hopefully, share out the profits.