Aquatera Supports Stromness Academy's Young Enterprise Scotland Team
Aquatera director, Ian Johnstone, has been supporting Stromness Academy’s 2024-2025 Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) team in developing their ‘Mind the Island’ jigsaw product. Young Enterprise is a programme that encourages young people to develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence to reach their full potential in the world of work, by providing a space for them to test their business ideas and products. Aquatera has been supporting Stromness Academy’s YES team for 10 years.
Ian Johnstone is one of the team’s business advisors, supporting the team by providing understanding of how a business is run, and helping them to develop their project by providing business-centred advice and expertise.
Hear from the Stromness Academy team about their product, their experience, and how they’ve been supported by Aquatera in developing their business idea…
Q. What is the product that your Young Enterprise team is developing?
“Our product is a high-quality wooden jigsaw precisely cut into the shapes of the parishes and isles found on the Orkney map. The original product features pieces with pegs. After a discussion, we decided that excluding pegs would allow people to opt for a more decorative version, widening our market. Coming up with our product we wanted to help those with dementia/Alzheimer's by giving them something to help them remember the island, known to them as their home. This is where ‘Mind the Island’ was formed and our slogan; ‘Remembering Orkney one piece at a time.’”
Q. Aquatera director, Ian Johnstone, has been involved as a business advisor; How do you feel Aquatera supported you in your project?
“Ian has contributed and been a massive help to kickstart our business and brainstorm ideas. He has helped by bringing in ideas and printing off maps of Orkney which were used in creating the design for our jigsaw. Aquatera has offered us an audience to practice presenting our presentation in front of professionals which we know will be very beneficial when it comes to the local and national finals. With his business expertise Ian’s been so helpful in pushing us in the right direction to create a successful business.”
Q. What has been your main take-away from this experience?
“We have learned how to work together as a team and how to agree and make decisions when coming up with new ideas. We’ve had to learn to listen to make sure all thoughts and feelings are heard, and we’ve had to learn to be patient with each other especially considering this has been a practical business where we’ve had to learn new skills in the production side. We feel we’ve been able to give back to the community by creating a product along with a leaflet which gives people something to talk about and helps keep our Orkney heritage alive which has been so important for us as a team.”
Q. How do you feel the experiences you’ve had in YES will benefit you in future?
“We feel Young Enterprise has been an incredible experience which could massively benefit some of us in the future. It has given us an insight into the world of business and what owning your own business could be like. We’ve learned how to work around the challenges which in turn has made us gain confidence in our abilities. This opportunity has left us feeling inspired as our members have had roles which has given them an insight and a taster of what their jobs could be in the future.”
Ian added “Aquatera is very happy to be involved and has always supported youth initiatives. I personally have a wealth of experience having owned my own business, managed a cooperative, and now being a director of Aquatera.”
Ian has really enjoyed his time working with all the pupils, staff, and other advisors; "Young Enterprise Scotland is a great opportunity to give young adults starting out a taste of how a business runs."
