Young entrepreneurs pitch their ideas Dragon’s Den-style
BUDDING entrepreneurs from a Derby school pitched their ideas to leading businesses in a Dragon’s Den-style format, as they took part in an enterprise day aimed at raising aspirations.
Chellaston Academy welcomed employers from Belper-based chemicals company Lubrizol, Derbyshire police, marketing company Macmartin, successful Covid start-up Colleague Box and Cosy Direct, an organisation that sells ethical play equipment.
Organised by E4E – a Derby City Council careers initiative set up in 2014 that provides CV workshops for pupils and mock interviews – year seven pupils were split into groups and placed with representatives from those businesses participating. They had to devise a business plan and come up with a presentation that included details of how they would finance their product and a marketing plan.
Peter Ellse, chief executive of Cosy Direct, said: “It is so positive seeing all these young budding entrepreneurs at one of our city schools. They were full of ideas and could turn a successful business plan around in the blink of an eye.
“The way that they all used technology to create campaigns was fantastic. I really enjoyed giving back to the community.”
Natalie Bamford, who set up personalised gift box company Colleague Box with husband Adam during the pandemic, said: “The students were polite, bright and inquisitive. It was a pleasure to visit Chellaston Academy and to see how much the pupils engaged with the activity.”
It was the last activity organised by E4E this academic year, and manager Arshad Iqbal is busy planning for more events when schools return in September.
He said: “E4E always has great backing from local employers and it was good to see a variety of both global organisations and Derbybased successful entrepreneurs volunteering at Chellaston Academy. We were delighted to welcome many new volunteers, too.
“Hosting events like the Enterprise Challenge Day is always exciting and we have so many great activities planned for secondary schools from September onwards.
“Through our strong partnerships with employers and local schools, we’re fortunate to be able to work alongside and impact thousands of young people each year.
“It is clear from what we saw at Chellaston that there are some hugely talented young people in Derby with great business ideas.
“Seeing the likes of local lads Project D and beauty business Barba, whose founder Sam Lowe was a former Chellaston Academy pupil, have success with their companies is so inspiring to these young people.”