Tycoon in Schools has been set up by businessman, entrepreneur and television personality, Peter Jones CBE, with a personal investment of £100,000.
This new enterprise competition is designed to encourage school-age youngsters from across the country to start their own business. The intention is to inspire pupils to pitch business plans to their tutors, in the hope of receiving seed funding.
If successful in their bids, students will have one month in which to commence trading and make a profit from their enterprise. Participants will compete for a place on the Tycoon League Table, by making as high a profit as possible.
Schools taking part in the contest will be given a loan of £1,000 to be allocated to those pupils who have displayed entrepreneurial aspirations. At the close of the competition, the students will repay their original loans to the Tycoon Bank, and remaining profits can be used by the school or donated to local charitable causes.
Schools across the UK may apply for funding through this scheme, on behalf of their entrepreneurial students.
Commenting on his new initiative, Mr. Jones said: “For too long schools across Britain have been calling out for an enterprise challenge to encourage their young people to ‘dream big’.
“Enterprise is the missing piece of the jigsaw in schools today. You can’t start early enough when it comes to learning about enterprise and through Tycoon in Schools we hope to reach young people of all ages and inspire them to realise their potential.
“This is just the beginning of an exciting new campaign to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to go for it. Our aim is to grow the competition each year, involving more schools and young people across the country and inspiring them to live out their entrepreneurial dreams.”
Entries must be submitted by 1 September 2012.
Click here to access the online registration form (opens in new window).
