Four students from Manor CE School, in York, recently went head to head against pupils from schools across Yorkshire and Humberside in the regional final of a national ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition.
The final was the culmination of the ten week competition, known as ‘The Big Deal’, which tasked students from years eight to ten with developing a business idea and drawing up a business plan. Run in partnership with West Yorkshire Aim-higher and London-based charity The Brightside Trust, it forms part of a wide range of events delivered by the “Excellence Hub” in Yorkshire and Humber, which helps develop opportunities for secondary school students.
The regional final, held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, saw the students pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, or ‘dragons’ which included senior staff from HBOS and Google, as well as Khalid Hafeez, professor of entrepreneurship from The York Management School, at the University of York.
Purebrand was one of a number of companies, including some of the business world’s biggest names such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Shell, who supported the competition and mentored the participating groups.
Managing Director, Simon Ryan, worked with the pupils from York, Tom Kite, Isaac Whiting, Ben Middleton and Matthew Pownall, to help with the development of their idea of a website aimed at teenagers - called ‘My Way, My Life’ - a price-comparison site offering users the opportunity to personalise it and recommend products to suit their individual tastes. During a visit to Purebrand the budding entrepreneurs experienced first-hand how brands are born, working with branding consultants and the design team to create their very own logo and visualise the site.
Nik Miller, who manages the Excellence Hub, commented; “It is fantastic to have mentors like Simon involved in projects like this; the students benefit hugely by engaging with enthusiastic and knowledgeable business mentors. It’s an exciting way for them to get an insight into how real business works and helps to raise their aspirations and confidence for the future”.
Amongst tough competition, the hard-working students from York were delighted to reach the final five in the regional final. Annette Aylett, the project’s co-ordinator at Manor, said: “All four pupils have worked really hard to get this idea off the ground.”
“They have done all the preparation for it in their spare time and have put an impressive amount of commitment and enthusiasm from start to finish, which shows such maturity. This ten-week project has helped these pupils come to grips with the difficulties of working in an adult business environment and they have gained so many skills from the time they have invested.”