AN INNOVATIVE Ipswich drinks-maker which pioneered a schools business project wants to expand into the town's sports centres, youth clubs and higher education facilities.

AN INNOVATIVE Ipswich drinks-maker which pioneered a schools business project wants to expand into the town's sports centres, youth clubs and higher education facilities.

MyJuice, which last week picked up a £25,000 small business award for its work at Copleston High School, wants to establish more community juice bars to encourage young people to live healthily.

And Claire Lander, who runs the firm with fellow director David Fisher, said they were in negotiations with a Sudbury secondary school to set up another Mini MyJuice bar, to be run by pupils.

“Copleston was our guinea pig and the project really came to life.

“Now we could move to youth clubs, sports centres and community facilities, and with University Campus Suffolk developing that gives us another opportunity as well.”

Pupils at Copleston benefited because they were able to learn how firms are run. They wrote a business plan and were able to develop customer service skills in operating the juice bar.

MyJuice was started nearly three years ago and has a store in the Buttermarket, in the centre of Ipswich, where it sells sandwiches, paninis and wraps, as well as drinks, and also puts on corporate lunches.

Now the firm has secured a property in Colchester and will open another branch in late January or early February next year.

Last week Miss Lander, 31, and Mr Fisher, 34, won the small business prize at the Edge National Employer Awards at London's Camden Roundhouse in recognition of their work at Copleston.

“Winning the award was a watershed moment - it has been tough at times,” Miss Lander said

Mr Fisher added: “When we set up Mini MyJuice we knew it was a good idea and that it would enable young people to gain experience of running a real-life business, but we had no idea it would prove so successful with the young people themselves.”

The awards honoured businesses for developing outstanding on-the-job learning opportunities for 14 to 25 year olds.

Has your business won an award or produced an innovative product? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk