Schoolboy saves ailing company

LONDON, DEC. 29. A technology conscious schoolboy, who was spending a fortnight working for a printing company, transformed its ailing fortunes by setting up a website and securing a flood of new orders, The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.

Adam Hughes, 17, realised within hours of starting a two-week work experience stint at the offices of Martin Mulligan U.K. that the company had to get onto the Internet in order to survive.

He redesigned its sales and marketing strategy so efficiently that lucrative contracts immediately arrived from Britain and the United States.

``We were lagging behind the competition and really struggling to stay afloat when Adam arrived. Our marketing plan had become outdated, as we still used the conventional methods of telephone and mailshot,'' Mr. Martin Mulligan, the Managing Director, said.

``Adam put an E-commerce system in place and the effects were immediate and astounding, both here and abroad. We received an American order for about œ70,000 to supply barcode tags in several major airports and now we expect to make more than $1 million from the Internet ordering system that Adam was solely responsible for,'' he said.

Mr. Mulligan offered Hughes the post of head of marketing in the U.S., but the 17-year-old who is studying for his a-levels (university entrance examinations) declined, saying he intended to pursue a course in architecture at Liverpool University instead.

``I only went to the company for a fortnight under the school's work placement scheme. I am flattered by the job offer, but I am still set on studying architecture,'' said Hughes, who received an award from his school for his innovation.

- DPA

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Section  : International
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