The YHPA (Young People in Horticulture Association) Launch Success Challenge has taken another step towards its final goal of naming, labelling and marketing a new species of begonia.
The final launch of the begonia will take place at next year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live in June.
The programme featured a group of ten delegates had divided into two teams, green and blue, but it was the former that saw their pitch claim victory.
It is the first time this challenge has been taken on in the YHPA’s four years and the two teams will now unite and work together as Team Teal.
To get to this stage, the teams met at St Peters Garden Centre in Worcester to pitch their begonia concepts.
The Green Team, consisting of Olivia Blackburn, Clou McEvoy, Ella Miles, Will Pateman, Grace Thornton, started the day by rehearsing their pitch with the expert guidance of Natalie Boynton and Boyd Douglas-Davies.
Boyd and Natalie helped the group refine their pitch cohesively and prepare for any tough questions from the panel.
On day two, they were the first to pitch to the panel of industry experts who comprised of: Amy Stubbs and Julian Palphramand (BGC); Andy Abbey and Annieck Ruijgrok (Beekenkamp B.V.); Lucy Tremlett and Bob Sweet (BBC GWL); Nick Mathias (Floramedia); Michael Perry; Liz Dowling; and headline sponsor Peter Moore.
The group received excellent feedback on their pitch, the judges especially loved the colour palette, social media strategy, and the brand story that they were taken on during their pitch presentation.
They then spent the afternoon exploring St Peters Garden Centre and reflected on the past few months of intense preparation.
The programme has seen them receive expert mentoring from industry leaders, and all pushed themselves beyond our comfort zone as we developed new skills essential to success and can now look forward to the big launch next year.
