Morley Glass Supports Entrepreneurs Unlock

Uni-Blinds® integral blinds manufacturer Morley Glass is partnering with a Leeds-based product designer and business owner who has created an innovative programme to help young people develop their creative and entrepreneurial skills. The Creative Enterprise Challenge is the brainchild of Sami Lovett, founder of Just Lovett Design, who wanted to create a “real life ‘The Apprentice’ meets ‘Dragon’s Den’ experience” for young people aged 1218. With the support of Morley Glass, the programme’s main raw material – wood – is provided free of charge, and additional sponsorship make it accessible to all. Running during the school holidays, the programme takes the best aspects of these successful TV shows and blends them with practical skills workshops led by Sami, where two teams of five compete to develop a winning product from scratch. Over the course of five days, the students are tasked to meet a sustainable design brief that involves designing a brand, product, marketing video and start-up business plan. The young people develop their creative skills, as they are required to make their own products using recycled materials. These include high quality wooden boxes, which were previously used for transporting integral blind systems, along with plywood sheets provided by Morley Glass. Sami teaches the students handicraft, graphic design and digital fabrication skills and they learn essential business skills too, enabling them to cost out their products with a view to making a profit at retail.

At the end of the week, each team presents in ‘Dragon’s Den’ style to pitch their creations to an expert panel of judges who are successful entrepreneurs themselves. And if the teams are happy with their finished products, they can then go on to sell them to their previously identified target market should they