Chase MP Amanda Milling is encouraging school pupils in Cannock Chase to enter a national enterprise competition run by Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones CBE.
Peter Jones’s national enterprise competition Tycoon in Schools 2015 officially launched earlier this month, with schoolchildren across the country invited to take part.
The competition, established in 2012, is run by the Peter Jones Foundation and challenges pupils to set up their own real-life companies. Teams submit a detailed business plan and receive a loan of up to £1,000 from the charity; they are then challenged to raise as much profit as possible during a set trading period.
Amanda Milling has written to local schools encouraging them to make their pupils aware of the contest and enable them to enter. She commented “I want young people in Cannock Chase to take advantage of this unique practical experience, to see what starting and running a business, and hopefully making a profit is like. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to get this sort of experience when I was young, and I want to make sure every young person in Cannock Chase has it too. Business experience is a great way to stand out on a CV when entering the workplace or applying to further education, and I want to give the young people of Cannock Chase every chance to get on in life.”
Last year’s £1,000 investment prize money was tripled and split between three finalists at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace in March. Past winners have gone on to continue their award-winning businesses after the competition. Recent research conducted on behalf of the Peter Jones Foundation found that many schoolchildren admire entrepreneurs more than they do doctors, teachers - and politicians!
Finally, Amanda added “I know that young people in my constituency have some brilliant ideas, and the potential to start amazing businesses. I just want to help them to fulfil that potential – and would love to hear from anyone who is thinking of entering the competition.”