Huish, in partnership with the Taunton Chamber of Commerce, proudly hosted its 2025 Dragon’s Den competition last week. This year’s event, the largest ever, saw 21 ambitious teams of A Level Business students competing to present the most innovative business idea or product, with a focus on developing a unique selling point (USP), identifying target markets, conducting market research, analysing competitors, developing a marketing campaign and planning detailed costings.
The competition highlighted the exceptional talent and creativity of the students, impressing the panel of Dragons with the high quality of pitches. The event was launched by Bethan Turner, Membership and Events Manager for the Taunton Chamber of Commerce, who offered insightful advice on how to develop entrepreneurial skills and deliver a strong business pitch, providing initial inspiration for the students. Dragons, composed of business representatives and industry specialists, provided invaluable advice, posed challenging questions, and offered constructive feedback to the teams. The Taunton Chamber of Commerce panel included:
Giles Adams, Chair of Visit Somerset
Colin Barrell, owner of Mr Miles Tearooms
Riley Bowler, PwC UK
Fred Davey, Charles Stanley & Co
Livvi Grant, co-owner of Daffodil PR & Communications
Sharon Grant, co-owner of Daffodil PR & Communications
Ian Lewis, owner of 360 South West
Carolyn Matravers, owner of Bluebell Financial Management
Victoria Spooner, Relationship Director at NatWest Corporate & Commercial Banking
Bethan Turner, Membership and Events Manager at Taunton Chamber
We were thrilled to welcome back two Huish alumni as ‘Dragons’; Riley Bowler from PWC who is currently undertaking a degree apprenticeship in audit/chartered accounting and Fred Davey from Charles Stanley & Co, an Investment Management Apprentice, who demonstrated to current students that with drive and determination they too can succeed in the business world.
The winning team, Lane Health, impressed the Dragons with their innovative idea of a new health monitoring app which aims to relieve pressure on the NHS and improve early intervention in health care. The Dragons were impressed with the team’s confident presentation, detailed content, and their planned partnerships with the NHS and Boots.
Another standout team, Bananergy, presented an ethical solution to the sustainability concerns of festivalgoers leaving their tents behind at the end of a festival. They created and pitched an innovative tent manufactured from banana fibre and beeswax and the Dragons were impressed with their ability to identify a gap in the market and their planned marketing campaign.
Step-Out, with a strap line of ‘Step away from the screen and step out into the scene’ captivated the Dragons with an app to rival Alltrails. The team focused on concerns that on average teens spend over 8 hours a day on their phone and developed the idea of an app to suggest walks for young people, with environmental ‘daily challenges’ such as litter picking. They impressed the Dragons with their pricing strategy and strong understanding of the target market explaining how they would differentiate from existing competition.
Cut X-treme pitched a natural and organic solution to support healthy weight management and the team’s outstanding and detailed market research impressed the Dragons. The team handled some challenging questions from the Dragons with poise and demonstrated a clear understanding of their target market and ethical considerations.
Other pitches that impressed the Dragons were from Hot Drops Deliveries, a drone delivery service that had developed a superb marketing plan, as well as Airoshield, who proposed the development of innovative window screens that act as a pollen filter helping hay fever sufferers.
The winning teams were:
Lane Health: Noah Bleakes, Ellie Lewis, Lotifa Hossain, Adam Holden
Bananergy: Kat Keene, Xabi Philip, Freya Burnell
Cut X-treme: Fin Bendle, Harry Vidler, Ollie McKay, Alex Poole
Step Out: Sully Cooling, Will Ford, Leif Middleton, Jamie Herrod
Huish extends a huge thank you to members of the Taunton Chamber of Commerce for giving up their valuable time to support the Huish students and providing such a valuable opportunity to pitch to business specialists.
Thanks also to the Huish Dragon’s Den Team: Jen Perks, Becky Habberfield, Jo Mellor, Donna Pester, John Palmer, Stewart Bettinson, and also to Richard Jones and Emily Stainton for their support with cover enabling the event to go ahead.
The Richard Huish Dragon’s Den 2025 competition was an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to showcase their skills and gain valuable insights from experienced industry professionals. Throughout the day the students had the opportunity to develop many skills such as teamwork, leadership, problem solving, numerical work, meeting deadlines and communication. The key objective of the day was to foster innovation and entrepreneurial spirit among the students, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the business world.
