Young people are invited to find out what it’s really like to set up and run a business through an initiative hosted by the University of Chester.
Under the Young Enterprise Company Programme, Year 12 students are now being recruited to take part in the scheme which is delivered over the academic year.
They will make all the decisions about their company, from raising the initial share capital through to designing their product or service to selling directly to customers and ultimately winding up the company and paying their taxes.
All this takes place with the support of a Business Adviser who brings a wealth of business knowledge and expertise to the team.
Students can also choose to set up their business as a social enterprise, which focuses on addressing a social need rather than maximising profit.
Young Enterprise helps teachers embed practical business skills and the Government’s statutory guidance on careers advice in the curriculum.
A number of exam boards map ‘Company’ against a range of their qualifications.
For the past two years, Chester students have had unprecedented success as companies from The Queen’s School and Abbey Gate College have beaten teams from all over the North West to represent the region at the national finals in London.
Already there are 15 teams from Cheshire West and Chester signed up from local schools and colleges.
This year, for the first time, the scheme will be running an Open Company based at the University of Chester’s Riverside Innovation Centre (RIC) for individual Year 12 students from Chester schools that are not participating in a group.
Claire Blanchard, venture manager at RIC and member of the local Young Enterprise board and Joy Addinsell, formerly chief executive of Enterprise Advisor Service North West who chairs Cheshire’s Young Enterprise Board, will support this and mentor the company.
Students from Christleton High, Upton High, Chester Catholic High, Blacon and Queen's Park are invited to come along to a meeting about this on Tuesday, September 30 at the Riverside Innovation Centre, Castle Drive, Chester at 4.15pm to find out more about what is involved.
For more information interested participants can contact Joy Addinsell, Chair, CWaC Young Enterprise Local Board - joy.addinsell@gmail.com or Claire Blanchard, Venture 3 Programme Manager, Riverside Innovation Centre - c.blanchard@chester.ac.uk.
