On Thursday afternoons, when most students are heading home, a group of nine Year 10 and 11 students voluntarily stay in school to talk about cash flow, branding and profit margins – and they love it.

This is our Tycoon Competition ECA, part of the national Tycoon Enterprise Competition run by the Peter Jones Foundation. I set it up because I wanted students to experience what we talk about in Business Studies in real life – not just on exam papers. Instead of analysing someone else’s business, they get to create their own, make real decisions and (sometimes) discover that “I thought it would sell” is not quite the same as “it actually sold”.

Thanks to the competition, our team received a £210 start-up loan to launch a real business: a smoothie stall selling fresh, healthy drinks packed with natural ingredients. A percentage of the profit will be donated back to the Peter Jones Foundation, which supports young people, especially those from underserved and disadvantaged communities.

Jan, Year 10 BTEC Enterprise student commented, “This experience really taught me a range of real-life skills needed to run a business in the future!”

Mr Williams, Teacher of Business Studies