STUDENTS of Alleynes High School in Staffordshire have been crowned West Midlands Young Enterprise Company of the Year and will go on to represent the area at the UK final.

The students’ company, Equipo, was set up to market personalised headphone tidies, known as the Ear Buddy - a stylish and effective holder for earphones.

The school was one of six regional finalists and will represent the area at the Young Enterprise UK Final on Monday, July 1 in London.

James Lowe, managing director of Equipo, said: “We are delighted to be named as winners as we had been preparing very hard for the competition. We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved.

“The plan for the future of Equipo is to keep expanding and to use all the potential we have to build our company and, hopefully, go global with our business.”

The team were part of Young Enterprise's flagship Company Programme, which sees students set up and run real businesses with the support of business mentors.

Marie Harper, West Midlands Young Enterprise manager, said: “All six finalists were extremely professional and delivered very polished presentations.

“The judges were very impressed with the calibre of the students at the event and it has helped Young Enterprise to further promote the benefits of our programmes and has gained us more business support in the West Midlands already.

“The winning team, Equipo, were deserved winners and I am very proud that this group of young business people are going to represent the West Midlands at the UK finals next month. I wish them lots of success for the future of their business.”

Michael Mercieca, chief executive of Young Enterprise, said: “We would like to congratulate Alleynes High School for winning the regional final. The students have worked very hard to create a successful business and we wish them good luck at the UK final.

“The company programme brings out some of the finest young talent in the UK, who compete with passion and drive.

“The students that compete create viable and scalable businesses, giving them first-hand experience in learning some of the most valuable lessons in running a successful organisation.”