The musical winning team Studiophonic with their cheque for £960.

A Young Chamber event based on BBC 2’s ‘Dragons’ Den’ saw ICM Chairman Alistair Somerville Ford judge three teams of students bidding for money to launch enterprises at Avonbourne School, Bournemouth on 14 March.

As one of only 51 schools in the UK selected to be involved with Young Chamber, Avonbourne, a Business & Enterprise College, held the event to give pupils a chance to present business plans to a expert panel of ‘Dragons’. There were three teams of five – made up of one teacher and a pupil from years 7, 8, 9 and 10.

‘Studiophonic’ asked for the full £1500 that was available to purchase professional recording equipment for the school’s Music Department. They also hoped to hire out the equipment to pupils, parents and the wider community.

The creatively named ‘Busting for a Wii’ were bidding for five Nintendo Wii consoles, each complete with four controllers at a total cost of £1,350, to be used both in teaching and for an after school club.

Finally, ‘Spotlight’ requested over £500 for a communications device that would allow much smoother control over the lighting, sound and overall backstage management of shows at the school.

After careful deliberation, the Dragons chose to award £960 to Studiophonic and £540 to Busting for a Wii.

Dragon Alistair Somerville Ford also ended up donating money to Spotlight to buy their much-needed equipment. 

He said: “All three presentations were impressive given the age of some of the pupils, and this was a great way of getting them to think about how a business works and what needs to be done to make something successful.”

Young Chamber is part of the Government’s enterprise education strategy which encourages greater enterprise capability among young people in education.

Samantha Ambridge, from Dorset Business, said: It’s absolutely crucial for young people to be involved in the business world. First and foremost, it helps to raise their aspirations for what they can achieve. By taking part in Young Chamber, they’re developing their business skills at a very early age; possibly without even realising they’re doing it.”

Visit www.youngchamber.com for more information.

By Heidi Lees-Bell

The ‘Dragons’ were:

Karen Rhys of Barclays Bank
Charlie Cormack of Humphreys Solicitors
Samantha Ambridge of Dorset Business
Alistair Somerville Ford of ICM
Ceri James, President of Avonbourne’s Young Chamber
Laura Miller, voted ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at this year’s Enterprise Challenge.

Useful links:

News article on Dorset Business:
www.dorsetbusiness.net/NewsMain.aspx?newsid=128

Avonbourne School, Business & Enterprise College
www.avonbourne.org

Young Chamber
www.youngchamber.com