Renew

Managing Director: Alanna Pandey

Finance Directors: Kirsten Smith and Emily Dean
Marketing Directors: Shania Smith and Charlotte Roberts
Operations Director: Grace Farmer
Company Secretary- Esmee Barr
Advisors- Adam McHenry (Cadman Homes), Dhruv Naker
(Steers Printing) and Falaq Ghafur

Centre Name: Lawrence Sheriff School

Centre Lead: Mr Tony Bedgood

Rugby Area Board

Interim Accounts
 Renew 2016

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..................................................1

Mission Statement ....................................................2

Products and Services ..............................................2

Initial Ideas................................................................2

Market Research.......................................................3

Target Market ...........................................................4

Renew’s Products .....................................................4

Social Media .............................................................5

Company Events .......................................................5

Company Developments Through Problems ............6

Financial Results .......................................................7

Balance Sheet ...........................................................7

Profit and Loss Account ...........................................8

Company Performance .............................................9

Executive Summary

Our company is Renew, originally a group of eight Year 12 girls from Rugby High School.
While trying to decide a name for our company, there was one common factor in all of
our ideas- we all wanted to create a product which was environmentally friendly but still a
product that the public would want to buy. From this we came up with the theme of using
recycled materials and we made our first decision of selling wrapping paper, made from
paper which would otherwise have been discarded; hence the name 'Renew'.

We have used Young Enterprise as a unique opportunity to develop our understanding

and gain an insight into the intricate task of running a successful company.

1
 Renew 2016

Our mission is to provide the public with products they might either need or want in an
eco-friendly way, reducing our carbon footprint and subsequently limiting the damage to
the planet, unlike the majority of products on the market today.

Although we took a long time producing our Christmas

wrapping paper and we changed our product various
times throughout the process to tailor them for each
season, we took our time fundraising the money needed
to create our products. Our methods were: every
member of Renew was a shareholder of £10 (which
more than compensated for our registration fee); we
contacted numerous people who bought shares in our
company totalling £84 and a cake sale at the end of last
year raised a total of £109.76 which generated plenty of
money to order in our wrapping paper. After purchasing
our wrapping paper, producing Christmas tree
decorations and vinyl bowls from records and jigsaws
donated to us from a local business and charities, all of which were sold at Christmas
fairs and at the Clock Towers, we have made a total shareholder fund of £216.64

Mission Statement
Renew was inspired to create products in an environmentally friendly and ethical fashion,
while giving back to the local community and promoting the arts within Rugby.

Products and Services

Initial Ideas
To begin with, several members of the group thought that creating bespoke candles for
different occasions would be an interesting business venture, while others thought that
personalised notebooks would be an innovative idea. However with the guidance from
one of our advisors Falaq, we decided to move away from the idea of candles, as her
group attempted this the previous year and were not very successful.

We were then asked the question by another of our advisors Adam, ‘what could make
your product and brand name unique?’ The idea of a recycled product was what first
jumped to everyone’s minds, it is a niche market which we believe not many have tapped
onto yet. One team member suggested combining the idea of notebooks and recycled
products to produce a recycled notebook which could have a personalised message or

2
 Renew 2016

image on the front. However the matter of costs and capability to source these notebooks
became a major issue, as both using recycled paper and personalising our notebooks
would add to the production cost and hence the final cost for the consumer; the cost was
too high to justify it being a lucrative idea.

We realised that we could continue pursuing recycled products but we would need to
expand our ideas. Many ideas were brought onto the table including: doorstops made out
of rope, hot water bottle covers, shopping bags made from potato sacks and a brownie
badge based on recycling, until we finally came across the idea of making recycled
wrapping paper which we thought was an excellent idea especially with Christmas fast
approaching.

Market Research
At first when we thought personalised notebooks were the way forward, one of our
finance directors created and sent out a questionnaire to all forms in our school asking a
variety questions, from ‘would you buy a personalised notebook?’ to ‘how much are you
willing to spend on a notebook?’ The results we got back showed a clear trend that not as
many people as we thought were keen on notebooks. This was a huge learning curve for
us and showed that we needed to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new
idea.

Towards the end of October we sent out another survey, this time asking about whether
people would be willing to spend more on an eco-friendly and
recycled product; the result was positive and it was a clear
indication to us that the eco-friendly path was the way
forward for us as a company. The data also showed that
people would be more willing to pay extra for a unique
product, and this prompted us to come up with the idea of
producing not only recycled wrapping paper, but paper with a
design drawn by a young local artist from Rugby, Louise
Humphreys. Our market research was crucial in determining
the outcome of our company and helped us to better
understand what our target market wanted from a product
and at what price.

3
 Renew 2016

Target Market

Our target market over the duration of this process has varied greatly, from mainly adults
with our bespoke wrapping paper, handmade Christmas tree decorations and vinyl
records bowls, to teens with our revision packs and our new idea of mason jars, perfect
for the upcoming summer months. However although we have marketed our products
towards both adults and teens, we as a team have found it easier to promote our
products to the teenage market, as we can relate to them a lot more, because as teens
ourselves we know what appeals to people our age, not to mention that our main pitch for
selling is at school.

Particularly, with the revision packs, we are familiar with the experience stress and anxiety
that come with the build up to exams and since many exams are taken in almost every
year group, we thought that there was no better method of generating a profit and
alleviating stress than making sure students were well equipped for the upcoming
months.

Renew’s Products

Our company Renew strive to achieve high quality, eco-friendly products, aiming to make
everyone’s lives a little more greener. Moreover the additional bonus of many of our
products having a service (for example the revision packs and wrapping paper), turn our
products from an ordinary recycled product to something more unique with far more
value. Charlotte, our marketing director, used her powers of persuasion and persistence
to secure a large donation of vinyl records from a local business for our record bowls and
a reasonable price for the printing of our Christmas design onto recycled wrapping paper.

Each vinyl record bowl cost £5 and we sold bundles of wrapping paper with gift tags for
£1.50 each.

4
 Renew 2016

After the Christmas period however we saw that there was a lull in profits and we realised
that in the New Year our products were not going to sell as well, hence the reason for our
new product revision packs, which we are selling at £4 each. This still fits in with our
company’s ethos as we are renewing information and we are currently in the process of
taking orders in, producing and distributing our packs to the students at our school.
Another branch of our company which we are also exploring is mason jars; which we
have received as donations. We are turning some into glasses containing a colourful
straw and a recipe card, which we think are going to be perfect for when summer comes
and others into small plant pots containing small plants such as cacti and seeds, which
we are currently seeking donations of from local businesses such as Blooms. This fits in
well with our brand’s ethos as it will reduce the number of disposable cups thrown away,
and is also a way of renewing old products into something new.

Social Media
For us as a group, social media has allowed for us to market our products to the wider
community. Shania one of our marketing directors, took this under her wing and decided
that she would look after all media related details to do with our company. However what
we have found is that since many of our products are aimed at students particularly at our
school, it has been hard to use social media to exhibit our products to the general public
and thus the reason for us perhaps not using social media to its greatest potential.
Nevertheless we have been using our school newsletter as a method of making both
parents and students aware of our products, in particular our revision packs. We still
remain confident that our appearance on social media sites will increase, especially within
the next month, once we have produced our first batch of mason jars which can be
marketed at a wider audience.

Company Events
Our team Renew have had the ability to sell our products at numerous Christmas Fairs,
the first being at Rugby High and this gave us our first real insight into which products
sold the fastest during the Christmas period. We also secured a pitch for two days in the
run up to Christmas in the Clock Towers Centre where we sold our vinyl record bowls and
handmade recycled wrapping paper, the most popular being the wrapping paper. However
our biggest selling opportunity has been within school from promoting our revision packs
and fundraising through cake sales.

5
 Renew 2016

Company Developments Through Problems

Throughout our Young Enterprise experience we have encountered many testing
moments as well as celebrations. Our first big setback was when our team member
Saatchi left, this was a challenge as it lowered the group morale significantly and it took
some work to get us all back on track and motivated again. Her job had to be reallocated,
and although it was difficult this was done successfully, but it did delay the time it took to
make decisions regarding our products.

Another obstacle which we had to overcome was deciding what to do with our leftover
stock after the Christmas period. We realised that we ordered too many sheets of
wrapping paper since we anticipated that we would sell more than we actually did.
However we used this mishap as a learning curve and it has made us alter the way we
sell our products. Now instead of ordering a large number of a single item, we have
decided to produce several prototypes, then people can register their interest and pay a
deposit for products such as the mason jars and revision packs; hopefully preventing us
from making any further losses. Nevertheless we are still trying to sell our wrapping
paper, promoting the fact that it is handmade from recycled paper. Currently, we are in
the process of selling our products online on sites such as Depop and eBay in addition to
the option of storing the wrapping paper until we can sell it again later on in the year.

6
 Renew 2016

Financial Results
Balance Sheet

7
 Renew 2016

Profit and Loss Account

For the period ended: 13.04.16

A Sales 129.82

B Purchases 102.48

C Production Wages 0.00

D Closing Stock 0.00

E Cost of Sales (B + C - D) 102.48

Gross Profit (A - E) 27.34

F Salaries, comissions and Bonuses 0.00

G Stationery 0.00

H Rent & Hire 10.00

I Miscellaneous Expenditure 0.00

J Registration Fee 80.00

Total Expenses (F + G + H + I + J) 90.00

Operating Profit (or Loss) (Gross Profit Less Total Expenses) -62.66

Miscellaneous Income 87.81

Net Profit (or Loss) 25.15

Net Profit Brought Down 25.15

LESS Corporation Tax Payable to Young Enterprise 2.52

Profit after Tax * 22.64

8
 Renew 2016

Company Performance
“My time at YE as marketing director has been a really exciting experience and has
definitely played a huge role in learning about the business world. Learning how to work
well with a team whilst also maintaining a role of responsibility is a new experience for
me; it has been very rewarding and I feel as though I’ve gained memories as well as many
useful skills to bring into my later life. Working on creating a product, and especially for
me, making that product available and appealing on the market and online as marketing
director was a challenge, but I feel the position as part of a YE team was well supported
and definitely a great learning curve.”
Shania Smith, Marketing Director
“I am the secretary for our company, Renew. I take minutes at every meeting, assign
roles for action points, and publish the notes so that all members are kept up to date.
This role involves a great deal of organisation and decisiveness; it is challenging yet
fulfilling and it has been a unique process to be a part of.”
Esmee Barr, Company Secretary

“Being a member of Renew has been both exciting but challenging at the same time.
Having the freedom to sell any product we want and being part of the group has been
very rewarding. As Managing Director I have to make sure that everyone is completing
their tasks on time, organisation is crucial and this whole experience has helped me to
improve both my public speaking and my ability to work well in a team; I have learnt many
useful skills which I am able to transfer to a wide range of situations.”

Alanna Pandey, Managing Director

“As one of the Marketing Directors I have suggested a couple of ideas such as the
wrapping paper. I also got crafty attempting to make record and cd bowls, contacted
multiple companies to get the most reasonable price and interacted with potential
customers in an attempt to strike a deal both in fund raising events and at fairs.”

Charlotte Roberts, Marketing Director

9
 Renew 2016

“I am the co-finance director of Renew and part of my role was looking after and
recording the shares fellow team members sold. Also I personally developed a lot of the
ideas we sold at the Christmas fairs this including the CD bowls, puzzle Christmas
decorations and magazine trees, in addition to setting up our bank account and obtaining
our cheque book. Through this I learnt a lot about how to manage money and the
importance of keeping a record of the money we spend and receive, which I believe I may
want to take further and make a career out of. I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole Young
Enterprise experience.”

Emily Dean, Finance Director

“I’m Kirsten Smith, the co-finance director. I’ve found Young Enterprise a very educational
experience, having had little idea how VAT and shares worked before. It was a steep
learning curve as I quickly had to figure out how to work balance sheets, but also
condense the accounts so that the whole team could understand how the money side
works. The breakthrough of coming into profit was one greatly celebrated by the whole
team. I also designed the team logo, which revolves around our concept of being an eco-
friendly brand. I’ve really enjoyed Young Enterprise this year and the team spirit that has
come out of it.”

Kirsten Smith, Finance Director

“I’m Grace Farmer, the Operations Director for Renew. I’ve been working hard throughout
the experience to contribute creative ideas and help the team develop products. I’ve really
enjoyed my time as a member of Renew and feel I have grown as a person as a result of
the experience. It’s been challenging, and demoralizing at times, but overall very enjoyable
and seeing our products come to fruition has been very fulfilling.

Grace Farmer, Operations Director

10