We were thrilled to hear that our Year 8 Tycoon team ‘Paws for the Planet’ have made it to the final of the Tycoon Enterprise Competition!

Our budding entrepreneurs overcame the challenge of the lockdown to start up their business, create and sell eco friendly products for their pets from October 2020 until June 2021. The young tycoons received start-up loans from the Peter Jones Foundation for Enterprise, and turned an excellent profit during the competition, with 10% of profits going to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Our NHEHS team of Jasmine, Emma, Abigail, Morven, Alice, Zoe, Amelie  will be attending the awards ceremony at Hampton Court Palace with Miss Watkins, Head of Economics, on Friday 24th September where the winners will be announced.

In the final, Paws for the Planet are one of only four finalists in the Tycoon 1K (Key Stage 3-4) in this national competition which attracted nearly 300 student businesses to take part.

There will be a winner and runner up for each of the competition categories, with an overall Tycoon Winner across all the finalists who will be awarded £1000 to be invested in their business. In addition, there are also Tycoon Impact Awards up for grabs – the Tycoon Business for Good Award that recognises a business that has a positive social impact whilst being ethical and environmentally conscious and the Tycoon Innovative Business Award, which recognises innovative design or creativity that is particularly forward-thinking.

All businesses which have entered the Tycoon Enterprise Competition are judged on how they have performed on the following eight enterprise capabilities.

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication
3. Digital Skills
4. Financial Skills
5. Leadership
6. Problem Solving
7. Self-Management & Resilience
8. Teamwork

Read all about Paws for the Planet’s journey here by Abigail S – how the group made use of their creativity and ideas to sell their products without a traditional Christmas fair or market stalls, switching their attention to selling to their ‘bubbles’ and families, and by making use of app-based sales platforms, websites and social media to showcase their products and fulfil enquiries.

Keep your fingers crossed for our entrepreneurs on the big day when the winners will be announced and trophies will be presented by no less than Dragons’ Den’s Peter Jones CBE, who will also be quizzing the teams about their business plans after they have made a one minute presentation to him!

Good luck, Paws for the Planet!