STUDENTS at a Malvern school are hoping to reach the top of the tree with their business idea. All in the sixth form at the Chase in Geraldine Road, they have formed a Young Enterprise project called Vesuvius to make and sell garden planters under the Tree Tops brand. Priced at £15 and £10, the planters are all designed, made and marketed by the 22 strong group of 16 and 17- years- olds and their micro business has now been entered in a national competition.

Marketing director Matthew Hayden explained: "We meet for an hour every Wednesday as part of the sixth form curriculum. Young Enterprise is a nationwide enterprise education charity that each year runs a competition and our task has been to form a business - we came up with the name Vesuvius - and then select members of our group to fill roles such as project manager, marketing director, head of HR etc. Our next job was to create a product, and after a process involving a lot of brainstorming and trialling, we came up with Tree Tops.

"Within the Tree Tops range we offer the Tree Tops planter, which is made from reclaimed wood and comes with a herb or flower of the client's choice, and some compost. While our other product is the Tree Tops Starter Kit. This item has smaller holes and comes with seeds, encouraging people to grow their herbs or flowers from scratch. Various sizes are available for each product, to cater for customer's individual needs. Our product have been developed with the aim of bringing a sustainable product to market, which will encourage people to be more active in the garden and provide an aesthetically pleasing ornament."

The planters can be bought online at www.vesuviuschaseye.co.uk and Tree Tops will be exhibiting at South Worcestershire Spring Trade Fair in Worcester High Street on March 1, Redditch and Bromsgrove Spring Trade Fair at Webbs Garden Centre, Wychbold on March 8 and the National Young Enterprise Trade Fair on March 15 at Stratford upon Avon.