JAYE Malta FLAIR wins two prestigious awards at COYC 2017

Last week, FLAIR – A JAYE Malta Company, walked off the stage set up at the Autoworld Museum in Brussels, with the Manpower Group “Ready for Work” and MetLife “LifeChanger” European Signature Awards at the 28th JA Europe Company of the Year Competition. From among the 37 teams representing countries stretching from Russia to the Isle of Man and Iceland to Israel, FLAIR and JAYE Malta left an impact on the European Youth Entrepreneurship Stage by being the only team to take home two European Signature Awards!

Following the success of their ‘elder siblings’ INTACT, which won the JA Europe Enterprise Challenge two weeks ago in Helsinki, Maltese youth companies and start-up hopefuls are making sure that small is indeed beautiful. During the award ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister for Belgium, Alexander de Croo addressed the 700 guests and recounted how he also “had a JA Company […] a life changing experience”.

FLAIR – A JAYE Malta Company from De La Salle College Sixth Form is composed of eight first-year students who embarked on the JAYE Malta Company Programme between October 2016 and May 2017. After setting up their mini-company and defining their respective roles, they designed, produced and sold their “A-Cards” study aids. The A-Cards are flashcards designed for students sitting for O-Level exams in Malta. As part of the JAYE Malta Company Programme, FLAIR made over €15,000 in revenue, won the National Best Sales & Marketing Strategy as well as the overall HSBC Company of the Year Title.

Reacting to their experience in Brussels, Kurt Pace Debono, FLAIR’s Managing Director said “I am indescribably proud of my team. This experience has been life changing, from barely knowing each other and forming the team in October to winning the National Finals and various other awards in May; all culminating in representing Malta in this year’s Company of the Year Competition in Brussels and going on to winning two prestigious JA Europe Signature Awards. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget!”

The ManpowerGroup “Ready for Work” Award recognizes the best-built work readiness skills during the competition and most significant impact on developing learnability. The MetLife “LifeChanger” Award recognizes the student-company which best grasps the concepts of social impact, financial performance and innovation in their business strategy while remaining a realistic plan in today’s marketplace.

JAYE Malta CEO Julian Azzopardi stated: “We are delighted by FLAIR’s success; not only due to the Awards won, but their professionalism, work ethics, belief in their product and perseverance to overcome the many chal- lenges they faced throughout their entrepreneurial journey. As we approach our 30th anniversary, JAYE Malta is thrilled with the success achieved by FLAIR and hope this will inspire more Maltese and Gozitan young people to follow in their footsteps, believe in the capabilities they have to create their own future, and add value to their educational and professional pathways.”

Dr Karl Briffa, chairperson of JAYE Malta said: “The enthusiasm, professionalism, dedication and teamwork shown by FlAIR‘s eight individuals was truly captivating and their strong sense of being a positive agent to solve problems for others and society in general was truly inspiring. Surely, the Company Programme is a life changing experience that will be cherished and applied by these members in whatever they may choose to do in life. There is no doubt that it is through programmes and initiatives like these that we can truly prepare our youth for the working world and/or to be themselves job creators. Special thanks must go to all JAYE Malta Foundations’ volunteers, supporters and corporate partners who year on year commit their time and resources to provide such a positive and rewarding experience for our young people.”