Virgin at Young Enterprise 2012
- By Jack Preston -
- Jun 19, 2012
Yesterday saw the Young Enterprise 2012 London regional final take place in Canary Wharf, with the cream of the capital’s young entrepreneurial talent battling it out for a place in the national finals.
Five teams from across London presented their impressive array of ideas to a panel of judges, with a homework app from Pomona of Alleyn’s School - Southwark, designer cake stands from Azura of Sacred Heart of Mary’s school - Havering, chewable, fruity pencil tops (Virgin’s personal favourites) from Team Endeavour of St. Paul’s School – Richmond and innovative locker shelving from Locked Up of Latymer School – Enfield forming a diverse range of ideas.
However it was Forty Winks, from North London Collegiate School – Edgware, who came out on top of the 200 teams competing in their region, with an eye catching set of designer pyjamas. The young women excelled at the pitching stage, having already gained backing from musicians and Olympic representatives for their product.
One man who knows only too well the importance of schemes to help bring through the next wave of entrepreneurial talent is 21 year old Jamal Edwards (pictured above with the winners). The media entrepreneur and SB.TV chief, who was himself a star of the 2011 Virgin Media Pioneers young entrepreneur event, was on hands to field questions from an eager audience and pass on some invaluable advice. (Catch Richard Branson's SB.TV interview here).
“There are loads of kids out there right now starting from scratch and building up their own businesses. But we need to make sure everybody in school realises that going it alone is something they can do too. We need schemes like Young Enterprise to give them the confidence to do this,” explained Edwards.
Next stop for Young Enterprise 2012 is the national finals, with the pick of the country’s regions doing battle. For exclusive video content from the competition check back with Virgin soon, where we’ll be picking the young entrepreneurs' brains...
By Jack Preston. Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn
