Budding young entrepreneurs will today go head-to-head as Peter Jones CBE announces the official start of trading for this nationwide enterprise competition in the hunt for Britain’s youngest tycoon, Tycoon in Schools.
The competition is fiercer than ever before with over 2,000 schoolchildren taking part across the country. This year, it has expanded into primary schools for the first time – seeing over 100 teams of children as young as five starting their own business and trading between Tuesday November 1st and Friday December 16th.
The race is on for the budding young business stars who are competing to be crowned winner of Tycoon in Schools 2016. Underpinned by Jones’s mission to put enterprise at the heart of the education system and find the youngest tycoon, the competition has grown by a staggering 300 per cent since it was launched in 2012.
This year, over 300 teams have been hand-selected to receive funding and kick-start their businesses. The quirky business ideas from across primary and secondary school teams range from up-cycling businesses to the provision of film nights and e-sports tournaments.
Schools involved span the length and breadth of the UK, including a team from Argyll, Scotland, who are creating bespoke, Scottish-themed calendars to a team from Saint Saviour, Jersey, who have designed customised bath bombs.
Every year, the innovative business ideas grab the attention of Peter Jones CBE. He is thrilled that Tycoon in Schools, now in its fifth year, has officially expanded to include teams of children from Primary Schools across the country who will experience their first taste of enterprise.
Jones says, ‘Every year, I am hugely impressed by the innovative and creative business ideas we receive from students – it reinforces that we should never underestimate the ambition and potential of our young people.
‘I am very excited to see these businesses come to fruition and wish all students participating across the country the very best of luck. Watch this space – we could have the next global business tycoon in the making!’
Tycoon in Schools was started by Jones in 2012, as part of his campaign to foster a start-up culture through encouraging and supporting enterprise education in the UK and find the UK’s youngest tycoon.
Since the competition launched, over 1,250 new businesses have been created by young people with thousands benefiting from over a quarter of a million pounds in Tycoon in Schools start-up loans.
The impact in encouraging the nation’s young people into entrepreneurship is clear to see. According to a survey of students that took part in the initiative last year, 70 per cent feel that taking part in Tycoon in Schools has made them want to start their own business in the future.
Further reading on children in business
