A TEENAGE entrepreneur hopes competitors won’t be able to hold a candle to her new business venture.

Poppy Wilson has started an ambitious month-long project to make and sell a range of scented candle jars.

The 13-year-old from Saughall Massie won a start-up boost of £100 after entering a Wirral Youth Enterprise competition at Pyramids Shopping Centre in Birkenhead.

Run by HYPE - Helping Young People Everywhere - it gives youngsters aged seven 24 a chance to come up with fresh business ideas. The winning ideas will earn their creators a cash prizes to get them off the ground.

The competition’s second round runs from today, Wednesday August 27 to Saturday, August 30 at the Bandstand in St John’s Square, Birkenhead.

Urging budding innovators to showcase their plans Poppy, who attends West Kirby Girls’ Grammar School, said: “I think the competition is a great idea and if any other young person like me has an idea for their own business I’d tell them to go along to Pyramids later this month and enter themselves.”

Poppy, who plans to become a doctor, added: “If the project is successful I intend to keep things going by putting back the profit I make from the first batch of candle jars into the business.

“My candles are going to look just like homemade jars of jam with material over the top and string tied around for a vintage look to make them appealing to the eye.

“I think people would choose to buy my product over others because they are unique as gifts and reasonably priced so people can afford them.

“My customers will mainly come from the Wirral area but I will also be advertising on social networking so I’m hoping to make the business larger and sell all over the country.”

HYPE was set up by Matthew Houghton in 2007 to offer support to young people across Wirral in a range of settings that includes youth clubs, employment programmes and education.

Matthew said: "We know Wirral has some of the most innovative and talented young people around. So we're asking them what great ideas they can come up with and what would £10 or even £100 could do to help get it off the ground.

"We'll give people the money if the idea is a good one which is why we are going to be at the Bandstand in Pyramids Shopping Centre from Wednesday to Saturday, August 27-30, from 10am-4pm.

"There young people can talk to our team about their ideas and fill in an application form.  If their application is successful they can get cracking with their idea."

To find out more about the competition call 0151 538 3307 or 07719 171833 or download an application form from www.hype-merseyside.co.uk/pages.php?pageid=181