Tramore Sea Salt Spray from Ard Scoil na Mara won Best Senior Student Enterprise in Waterford and qualified for the National Student Enterprise Finals.

Protein Pros from Mercy Convent Secondary School, who won Best Junior Student Enterprise, will join the Tramore business.

The county finals took place today (Tuesday) at the Park Hotel in Dungarvan. Co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Office Waterford, the final took place during Local Enterprise Week. The competition is the most successful programme of its kind in the country.

27,000 budding entrepreneurs from 380 secondary schools across the country have been running their own enterprises, with help from their teachers and Local Enterprise Offices.

Tramore Sea Salt Spray, winner of the Senior award, created, produced and sold a unique product to enhance hair texture and volume by using natural mineral-rich sea salt, giving your hair a beachy, tousled look while also nourishing and strengthening it. The team comprised of Ben Phelan, Arlo Barron and Sam Ahern.

Speaking to WLR News, Arlo said they were thrilled with the win.

“We didn’t expect to win but we did. One day, one of the lads was out swimming in Tramore like he always does, and he realised after swimming that your hair is a bit of a mess after being in the salt water. We also couldn’t have done it without the help of our teacher Mr. Kenny.

“We decided to keep it local and use what we have here in Tramore, and use the sea salt to make a product for your hair.”

Mr. Robert Kenny has been teaching at the school since it was established and has always encouraged students with an entrepreneurial mind to bring their idea to fruition.

While the first Junior winners in Waterford in nearly 10 years produced a product similar to protein balls, however, they made various different protein shapes instead. They offered multiple flavours including biscoff, dairy milk, and peanut butter in the shape of stars and hearts. The team included Sophie Wall, Emily O’Regan, Casey Wyse and Layla Costello.

Tramore Sea Salt Spray and Protein Pros will represent Waterford at the National Finals on May 8th, taking on 34 other businesses, the best of the rest of the country.

National finalists from all over the country will set-up enterprise displays before taking part in a series of judges interviews. The judging panels take numerous factors into account, such as business reporting, innovation, market research, risk management, and finances.

Further information about May’s National Finals is available through www.studententerprise.ie, which also has free resources and video tutorials for students and teachers for the 2024/2025 programme.

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