FBM Awards Ceremony with Belmont Community School

The competition 

The theme was ’What a wonderful world: what can we do to help?’ with a goal of coming up with a business idea that would provide a solution to help stop an environmental issue.  

The idea 

During the brainstorming process the team discovered that the UK wastes approximately 9.5 million tonnes of food annually, a statistic the team were truly astonished by and felt they should do something about it. As a result, the team got to work and established a start-up company ’Smart Home Tools and Tech‘ and developed a ’Fridge Focus Smart Camera ‘.  

The product 

Designed to help vulnerable people manage the food in their fridges, the smart camera aims to eliminate food waste by using the camera to scan items and calculate the expiry date based on expected shelf life. 

But that’s not all; the Fridge Focus Smart Camera is linked to an app that suggests recipes based on food in the fridge to further prevent food wastage.  

The brains behind the idea 

The team, George, Celian, Ethan, Jack, Luke, Naomi, and Ryan were led by Team Leader Alexia and supported by teacher Miss I’Anson, Executive Consultant and Lesley Buckels, and colleagues from across Waterstons. 

The team learnt some great skills including: 

• How to develop a business plan 

• Marketing and brand importance 

• Team building  

• How innovation played a key part of their success 

The team did brilliantly (Lesley was quite emotional), winning second place overall and winning first prize for ’Best Presentation’. 

Mrs Latta, Head of Department at Belmont school summed up: “Thank you for everything you have done for the team this year, you have been a brilliant business partner, and they couldn’t have done it without you. I hope we get to work with you again.” 

Congratulations to all the schools that took part this year, the bar has been set very high and we at Waterstons look forward to supporting the Future Business Magnates in 2025. 

Official press release from Durham County Council

Eco bins and fridge cameras among young entrepreneurs’ ingenious creations

A bin capable of weighing food waste and encouraging recycling and composting was the winning entry in an innovation competition for young entrepreneurs.

The annual County Durham Future Business Magnates competition saw Year 8 pupils from local schools apply creativity and problem-solving to a range of challenges.

Organised by Business Durham, the business support service of Durham County Council, this year’s theme was ‘What a Wonderful World – Can you Make it Better?’.

And after an exciting finale at Hardwick Hall, pupils from King James I Academy took first place overall with their ‘Smart Weigh’ business.

Their ingenious concept is based on an eco-friendly bin that can weigh food waste, with users then earning points according to how much of the waste is recycled or composted.

Runners-up, Belmont Community School, came up with ‘TechC’, a camera installed inside people’s fridges to monitor the shelf life of products.

Framwellgate School’s team bagged third place for their educational ‘ShoreSavers’ package, designed to teach primary school children about protecting the earth’s oceans.

Cllr Joan Nicholson, Chair of Durham County Council said: “The competition is in its 19^th year and brings together the energy and creativity of our young people and the experience and guidance of our business community.

“It is an opportunity for our young people to show off their entrepreneurial talents by coming up with business proposals that are then judged by an expert panel of business leaders. It’s really inspiring to see and all involved form valuable connections.

“It all serves to lay a strong foundation for the future success of County Durham's next generation of business leaders.”

The County Durham Future Business Magnates event was supported by sponsors, mentors, and community partners including Co-op, Erwin Hymer, Robertson Homes, and Waterstons.

To find out more about getting involved in future FBM competitions visit www.futurebusinessmagnates.co.uk.