View from a business volunteer...

Two of the region’s fund managers are investing their time in the future of young people by volunteering to run Young Enterprise North East’s (YENE) enterprise education programmes in schools across the region.

Nick Edgar of IP Group plc and Simon Johnson of NEL Fund Managers have worked with YENE for a number of years and are currently involved in the Company Programme working with students aged 15 to 19 from Church High School in Newcastle.

Nick is also a member of YENE’s Volunteer Committee, which is responsible for the strategic involvement of all business volunteers and aims to encourage even more businesses to get involved with enterprise.

IP Group and NEL are both venture capital companies that are managing two of the region’s Finance for Business North East Funds. IP Group manages the Finance for Business North East Technology Fund and is looking to fund and support 60 high growth SMEs in the region over the coming years. NEL is focussed on funding and backing well-established companies from all sectors in the region and has twenty years’ experience in supporting North East businesses.

Nick was first introduced to YENE when he worked with the charity as part of a graduate placement and has remained a strong believer in what Young Enterprise aims to achieve ever since. He said: “My first experience in the classroom was really good; I had a very supportive link teacher and great support from the Young Enterprise team.

“For anyone in business that has the chance to work with young people I’d say grab it with both hands; it is such a good experience, as young people teach you as much as you could ever hope to teach them, not least in terms of their enthusiasm and generation of creative ideas.”

Nick believes that only by business people going into schools and having direct contact with these young people that we as a region will produce an enthusiastic and entrepreneurial workforce of tomorrow.

Simon added: “As the recent Young Enterprise alumni report highlights; YE students are twice as likely to run their own business in the future, and alumni feel that Young Enterprise contributed more than anything else to their development of transferable skills, such as teamwork, decision-making, and self-motivation.

“Both our day jobs see us work with lots of entrepreneurs and I think it is definitely something that should be encouraged from as early an age as possible. Enterprise education taught by no other than real people in the business world gives young people a good, all-round sense of business acumen. I would encourage anyone in the business community to see how they could get involved.”

They have also had a lot of fun along the way Nick adds: “Hurdles that I have had to overcome include battling with broken staple guns as well as cutting wood and painting – a massive achievement for someone who certainly isn’t Mr DIY!”

www.ipgroupplc.com regional website: www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com
www.nel.co.uk

RONNIE THE RUNNER BEAN RUNS AWAY WITH TOP ENTERPRISE AWARD

RONNIE THE RUNNER BEAN RUNS AWAY WITH TOP ENTERPRISE AWARD

An evening that toasted the achievements of enterprising students, teachers and the regional business community, saw a team of youngsters from Newcastle Church High School recognised as the star performers.
BrightLife Books, a company set up by year 12 students from the city’s school, walked away with the Company of the Year title after producing two paperback books, 'Ronnie the Runner bean' and 'Sunny the Sunflower' with a global environment and healthy eating theme aimed at children aged three - 11.
‘Live the Rightlife, live the Brightlife, is the motto of this company. The students wrote and produced the books to help young people understand environment and healthy living issues. The books come with sunflower seeds so children can grow their own plants and a ‘Wheel of Good Health’ placemat to teach children about eating healthily.
BrightLife Books launched the product with a joint venture at Ouseburn-based Seven Stories book shop and has also delivered workshops to local school children.
The winners, revealed at an awards ceremony at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel last night, will go through to represent the region in the Young Enterprise National Final in London in July.
BrightLife Books managing director Francesca Thornton said: “Undergoing the Young Enterprise North East programme has been the most rewarding thing we’ve ever done. We have all learnt valuable enterprise lessons and knowing that we have produced something that other people find to be a good product is fantastic.
“We are unbelievably excited to have won the top award at the Regional Final and cannot wait to represent the region at the Grand Final in London. All the hard work has paid off.”
The winners of the Runner Up Company of the Year Award went to Cookii Doh – a company set up by a group of year 10 students from John Spence Community High School in North Shields, that produces high quality t-shirts and hoodies with unique designs for the teenage market.
Cookii Doh is already in talks with Cramlington-based men’s clothing company The Officers Club and is exploring possibilities with high street clothes retailer Next plc and play.com.
As well as representing the region at the National Final to be held in London this July, BrightLife Books will also receive a ‘five to keep your business alive’ business support package from five North East-based service providers.

The prize package includes free accountancy support from North Shields-based Blusky chartered accountants, green office supplies from Ethicalsuperstore.com in Gateshead, PR and marketing support from Newcastle’s award winning PR agency O Communications, an IT start-up package from Darlington-based Resilient Business Systems and a telecoms package free for a year from Eclipse Networks in Gateshead.

YENE chief executive Catherine Marchant said: “Every year I never fail to be amazed by the standard of business ideas from young people right here in this region.

“Their combined ideas highlight the vast amount of entrepreneurial talent that lies in this region – talent that surely must be nurtured and invested in, if we are to generate a lasting entrepreneurial culture in the region and show the rest of the UK that the North East really does mean business and compete on an international level with business across the world.

“The winners stood out as they put real thought into the nature of the product, their business and their market. It’s been a great competition.”
The other two finalist companies that were judged on the day include, Smarty Pants, a company set up by students from Teesside High School, that produces quality audio CD revision guides and online resources for the GCSE science market and Munchkins, launched by a group of year 12 business and textile students from The English Martyrs School & Sixth Form College in Hartlepool, that produces personalised aprons and recipe books for children.