A TEAM of Barry entrepreneurs are bound Stateside after they scooped a national prize for students in the UK.

The Cardiff and Vale College students (CAVC), who hail from Barry, proved themselves the most enterprising in the country to triumph in the national final and be crowned winner of Market Maker 20 14.

The Trickle Box team from the college’s hair, beauty and complementary therapies department will pitch their business idea in New York – making it the second time a CAVC team has won.

The team came up with Trickle Box - a range of bespoke and popular character kit boxes, featuring all the essential make up and accessories required to create any fancy dress costume.

The four hair and beauty students will pitch for investment in the Big Apple.

They beat more than 1,300 students in 320 teams.

Market Maker is one of the UK’s largest student enterprise competitions and seeks to encourage entrepreneurial opportunities for students and give students an advantage when it comes to employment opportunities in the future.

Teams worked since September to develop an innovative business idea, fine-tune their business plans, develop a website, produce a promotional video and create an E-Shop to trade their products and services using the state-of-the-art Market Maker platform.

The online platform, which was developed by City University of New York, has its own virtual institutions and simulates a real economy, giving the students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to successfully run a business.

The teams pitched ideas to judges at the Institute of Directors (IOD) headquarters in London.

Tickle Box’s chief executive, Kayleigh Fyfe, 28, of Barry, said: “This was an absolutely amazing opportunity. The atmosphere at the IoD was incredible. The competition has helped to make my dream come true, it really was an invaluable experience.”

Team financial director Ellie Griffith, 19, of Barry, added: “My confidence has been boosted immeasurably by getting involved in this competition. The opportunity to participate in developing a business idea and getting to pitch in front of successful business people at the IoD has given me a life changing experience. Every aspect of the competition has empowered me beyond expectation.”

Fintan Donohue, chief executive of the Gazelle Colleges Group, the network of further education colleges that created the competition, said: “All of the students that took part in the competition have learned firsthand about what it takes to start up and work in a business, and this knowledge has given them a real head-start when it comes to moving into employment or self-employment.

“Participating students have engaged with the key transferable skills that will make them attractive to employers, not least creativity, adaptability and resilience together with networking and interpersonal skills.

“Enterprise competition is becoming an integral part of student experience. The student role models that are winners help create a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the colleges they come from. The young people in the competition may never actually take forward their own businesses but the experience of being involved in a start-up has developed a mind-set that will strengthen their employment prospects.''