Tees Valley’s Young People Encouraged To Be Entrepreneurs Of Tomorrow

Activities to inspire Tees Valley’s young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career have been launched this week (November 17) to coincide with the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Young people from across the region will connect, develop and grow the entrepreneurial skills needed to start them on the path to be a successful entrepreneur through a programme of activities hosted by Local Authorities including at the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning within Hartlepool.

The programme is supported by £20,000 from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority and will run to the end of the academic year.

Participants will be able to take part in a host of workshops, including workshops connecting local entrepreneurs with students to raise the awareness of entrepreneurs as a career option, enterprise competitions encouraging young people to set up their own business and social action enterprise challenges encouraging students to focus on the local economy.

The programme is closely linked to the Mayor and Combined Authority’s skills strategy and the £3million TeesValleyCareers.com initiative, which aims to link more than 1,000 regional businesses with the area’s 100,000 students to provide top-quality careers engagement and advice.

Students from Dyke House, English Martyrs and High Tunstall College of Science, all based in Hartlepool, were involved in workshops provided by regional entrepreneurs such as Adam Boubada, Marc de Launay, Rachel Laycock and Dan McGovern before splitting in to groups to pitch Dragon’s Den style business ideas to the panel.

Tees Valley Combined Authority’s Head of Education, Employment and Skills, Shona Duncan, said: “We talk a lot about college, university and apprenticeships as viable routes to a rewarding career here in Tees Valley, but we can’t ignore the huge number of entrepreneurs who have made a success of themselves in the region.

“These schemes are giving our young people practical advice and using real-world experience to show how they can set up their own companies. As we continue to support our micro, small and medium businesses today, as well as highlighting entrepreneurship and developing students’ skills, we’re sowing the seeds of success for tomorrow.”

A Toolkit of resources for schools including lesson plans and videos can be found at TeesValleyCareers.com/entrepreneurs