Hanley Castle Y7 Entrepreneurs
Grant Thornton inspires entrepreneurship in Hanley Castle High School students
On April 4th Hanley Castle High School welcomed professional services firm Grant Thornton UK LLP who delivered an inspiring business enterprise skills day, entitled “I’m an Entrepreneur!”, to 180 excited Year 7 students.
Students have been honing their business skills in the run up to the event through a series of lessons provided by Grant Thornton, which challenged students’ preconceptions on what being an entrepreneur means. These lessons culminated in the “I’m an Entrepreneur!” skills day hosted at the school, in which students designed their own micro-businesses and competed for one of six £25 loans, provided by the school, to get their micro-businesses off the ground. Students were supported by Grant Thornton employees throughout the day, who shared their business expertise to enable students make the most of the experience.
The six winning businesses will commence trading after the Easter break. They will need to invest their loan wisely to ensure they can repay the start-up loan of £25 and create as much profit as possible. All profits made will be invested in ‘lendwithcare.org’ microfinance, encouraging students to provide a sustainable loan to entrepreneurs in developing countries.
Hanley Castle High School head teacher Lindsey Cooke said “We are extremely grateful to Grant Thornton for investing so much time and enthusiasm into supporting our students. It was a hugely enjoyable experience for all involved and will, hopefully, inspire many of our students to consider setting up their own businesses in the future. ”
David Hillan, Practice Leader for Grant Thornton in Birmingham said ‘It has been amazing to see the collective energy in the classroom today. Our School Enterprise Programme blends our ambition to develop enterprise skills in young people together with the impact we wish to make in wider in society. I am often faced with many asks on my time and this purpose-led initiative fits perfectly with how we focus on upskilling our next generation, widen their horizons through innovative learning and supports their understanding of how entrepreneurs add real value to developing world economic communities.’