Peter Jones Enterprise Academy Student wins top BTEC Award

Star Student: Grant Ridley, who is studying at the Peter Jones Enterprise
Academy, today won ‘Outstanding BTEC Student of the Year’ at the inaugural
National BTEC awards, hosted by Pearson. Peter Jones said “Grant has
excelled during his time at the Enterprise Academy. He has shown true
entrepreneurial flair and I expect we will be seeing a lot more of him over the
coming years.”

Rod Bristow, UK President of Pearson said “This is an outstanding
achievement for both Grant and the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy. Grant
was viewed by the independent panel as exceptional and is clearly well on his
way to becoming a successful entrepreneur”.

Introducing the latest addition to the NEA team – Our new Sheffield campus!

The goal of the new Government is to make Britain the easiest place in the world to set up and grow businesses. MADE: The Entrepreneur’s Festival, Sheffield, which took place last week, was the place where thought leaders gathered to discuss how we could do just that.

And it was also when the latest addition to the NEA family, Sheffield City College, was officially launched by Founder and Chairman Peter Jones.

Peter Jones addressed the new cohort of students in the state of the art building in the heart of Sheffield. He said: “I am delighted to be opening my National Enterprise Academy at Sheffield City College. Young people play a major role in the future success of the economy. I passionately believe in their potential.

He added, “The NEA aims to inspire and kick-start the next generation of entrepreneurs by equipping young people with the skills to become successful business leaders. I wish them every success in Sheffield.”

As with Manchester and Amersham campuses, local and regional business experts and entrepreneurs will help to mentor the Sheffield City College students by either visiting college and giving talks about their experience or taking part in lessons to pass on their advice. Local employers will also provide work placements so that students gain experience as consultants. Around 30 local business experts have signed up to support the programme so far.

Julie Byrne, Principal of Sheffield City College, said: “Our young people are the future of the city. We want to support the growth of their ideas and businesses by providing a comprehensive package of support, and are thrilled that Peter Jones and Vince Cable are supporting the launch. Principal Byrne explained “We have a strong track record of supporting enterprise and we hope the NEA at our fantastic new building will raise aspirations and contribute to an enterprise-led economic recovery in the region.”

Be a part of the National Enterprise Academy at Sheffield City College on Granville Road by supporting students, providing work placements or signing up to the courses.

Find out more by calling 0114 260 2600, emailing enterprise@sheffcol.ac.uk or applying directly at our website www.thenea.org

Introducing our latest inspirational young entreprener – Courtney Louise Howson

There’s something pretty special about speaking with someone who has so much passion they’re about to burst. We are very lucky here at the NEA that we often come across such people, some are just starting out and some are well into their entrepreneurial journey but one thing is for sure their passion is infectious!

We are starting a series of interviews for our blog to try to capture some of that infectious passion, and we are starting it all off with 19-year-old Courtney Louise Howson, owner of Courtney Louise Photography.

Hi Courtney, First off can we have a little bit more background on you?

I live in the East midlands, in Lincolnshire and I run my own business, Courtney Louise Photography which I started last year. I have had a huge interest in photography from my early teens where I was introduced to photography by my father who leant me his basic digital SLR camera. I was in love with photography from then on, and since have strived to have a career in doing something that I thoroughly enjoy.

What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Creative, hard-working and ambitious.

What are you doing at the moment?

It’s wedding season at the moment, so I am very busy particularly on Saturdays photographing them. During the week, I edit all of the photographs from the big day (a minimum of 400) and once that’s done, I get the CD of images sent off to the newly weds! I will then design the layout of their album which the clients then receive within a couple of weeks. I offer a quick turnaround of 1- 2 weeks, which is one of my USP’s.

In your own words your passions are ‘photography, colour and all things creative’ what else motivates you?

I am constantly motivated by hearing positive comments about my work and nothing is more rewarding than a happy client!

You mentioned you started a business sometime ago, can you tell us more about that?
I started my business straight after my A-levels, last year in 2009, aged 17. I knew for the entirety of year 13 that I wanted to start my own photography business. It was a choice of a business or studying photography at university. I applied to several universities and got offered Unconditional placements which I was very pleased with.

Once I had chosen my first choice placement, I deferred my entry to start in September 2010 as I wanted to give myself a trial year to see how things went if I were to do freelance photography. I began offering services in portraiture and since then, it has developed into weddings, fashion, commercial and film-stills photography. I have realised that experience is key for a career within photography. My deferred entry has now been cancelled and I shall be continuing to develop my photography business.

What made you decide to start your own business?

I was very lucky to have fantastic publications of my work from an early age. My first publication was in the UK’s best-selling photography magazine, Practical Photography, aged 16. Seeing my work in print really gave me the drive to realise I could make a good living from doing something that I love.

What would you say is the most important thing you can do to promote a business such as yours?

Networking! I meet lots of people in different circumstances, from networking events, to train journeys. I carry my business cards everywhere and I use MOO (www.moo.com) which print individual designs onto each card. These are perfect for my photography, as they are like a miniature-portfolio. With one image per card, I can show potential clients my work and they have my details printed on the back.
I recently attended a local invitation only business networking event. It involved an early start at 6.45am, and we had to give a one minute introduction to ourselves and our businesses. There were around 50 people there and I received 6 leads at that session, from people looking for a photographer. It may have been an early start in the morning, but it was very well worth it!

I get a lot of leads through word-of-mouth, the best advert any business can have is happy clients who can spread their experience with friends and family.

How important is the internet in promoting your company?

Extremely important! I spent hours uploading my photography onto various sites such as Flickr and Deviant art, which gave me a strong fan base. This encouraged me to develop my work. I also took the time to research photography businesses and see how the successful studios and freelancers worked, learning particularly from online forums.

I strongly believe that networking is a huge factor to any business - with sites such as Facebook and Twitter, we can publicise businesses to a very wide audience. Through Twitter alone, I have managed to land myself with £400 worth of free advertising, simply by meeting advertisers online who were keen on my work and they kindly offered me their services for free!

I have my own website which receives a lot of interest from potential clients. I used Moonfruit to create my website, a fantastic and very easy website-builder. Its affordable and I would highly recommend it to those looking to build their own websites. (www.moonfruit.com)

Why do you think the NEA is great?

Unfortunately not many schools are giving enough information for young adults to set up their own business. The NEA is unique in providing budding-entrepreneurs this ‘Can-do’ attitude which is much-needed!

Do you have any plans to start another business?

I am always thinking of ideas for new ventures! For now, my main priority is working on my photography business. I have got plans for expanding my business within 2011 which will include new services.

Visit Courtney Louise Photography www.courtneylouisephotography.co.uk

Courtney’s impressive publications list includes: 

Film4 2010 calendar

London Fashion Week

Stills photographer (Almost Midnight Productions

Novel Front cover, ‘In too Deep’ by Jayne Anne Krentz

Novel front cover, ‘Deceptions’ by Rebecca Frayn

Novel Front cover, ‘La hora Secret’ by Scott Westerfeld

Novel Front cover, ‘Gevaarlike Dans’ by Margie Orford

Novel Front cover, ‘My soul to save’ by Rachel Vincent

Practical Photography magazine articles x 2 (Young, upcoming photographer)

Digital SLR Camera Magazine

Hopelessly Romantic (USA)

Snap! Magazine

What Digital Camera magazine

NEA Graduate has truly got the gift!

As our last post refered to, graduates from the NEA courses take a number of paths upon leaving the National Enterprise Academy. A large number of our graduates have been offered impressive roles within existing companies. One such graduate is Anthony Lavin, who started at Red Letter Days, the company who pioneered the concept of giving unforgettable experiences as gifts, (www.redletterdays.co.uk) toward the end of last year, after spending a year at the NEA.

After joining the corporate team as a Junior Account Manager in January, Anthony has now smashed his annual sales target of £180,000 -  4 months early!  This is a fantastic achievement for someone with no sales background and shows how far he has come over the last year.  It is no doubt that the NEA course helped set Anthony up for success, but what is even more impressive is how these results show that Anthony took hold of the experience and used it to excel beyond everyone’s expectations a truly entrepreneurial mindset!

Some of the great pieces of business that Anthony has won (worth a whopping £210k in total) include:

• A three-year contract for Iron Mountain for a reward and recognition scheme worth
• Awards for prize giving for BDO
• Incentive scheme for Anglian Windows

Red Letter Days are incredibly proud of Anthony as are we, and  there is no doubt that Anthony will go on to have a successful career in sales.

Well done to Anthony from all of us here at the NEA!

Proof that entrepreneurs CAN be made!

We’ve been very excited here at the NEA because we got our curriculum results and they were fabulous. Actually, they were phenomenal. There were a lot of charts, numbers and pie charts plotting it all so we’ve pulled out the key results we think you’d like to know:

1. 100% of students that took the Level 3 course completed the qualification
2. Guest speakers, Masterclasses and workshops make up 53% of learning time at the NEA – truly bringing the boardroom into the classroom!
3. The NEA course beat National Skills Academy Benchmarks comfortably – an outstanding achievement for any course, even better for one in its first year!
4. 67% of NEA students have been offered jobs with companies including Orange, L’Oreal, Laing O’Rourke and Phones International as well as local businesses such as Wigs Up North and Webmart (a HUGE congrats to those students!)
5. 20% of NEA graduates are taking up places at University – and a number of them are funding their way through with their business they set up during the NEA.

We knew we were onto something amazing, and now have the results to prove it! If you or someone you know fancies being part of the next cohort of students final places are still available. You can apply directly at www.thenea.org or contact us via the website to find out more.

National Enterprise Graduation 2010

The National Enterprise Academy Celebrated its first full year with fantastic results (way above national average!) in a great Graduation Ceremony at the famous Manchester City Football Club grounds

Manchester City Stadium Hosts The National Enterprise Academy Graduation

Last Friday 9^th July, The National Enterprise Academy celebrated Graduation 2010 in the amazing grounds of Manchester City Football Club, one of the NEA’s core business partners.

The students gathered in the auditorium for some group shots as they awaited Peter Jones’ arrival to the grounds. On arrival Peter greeted the students and posed for some official photos before leading the 51 graduates to their seats in the hall.

Following an introductory speech from acting CEO Clive Capp, Peter took to the stage to thank the staff, partners and most of all the students for a hugely successful first year. In his speech he referenced his ‘10 Golden Rules’ calling out a number of students by name as exemplars of those rules. He was particularly impressed with the determination and kindness displayed by many of the students who raised almost £7000 with their money-raising efforts for a number of charities, with the main beneficiary being Help for Heroes

Ayodele Jenyo, the NEA Student Spokesperson for 2010, wowed the crowd with his incredibly well presented speech. Highlights include making many of the staff teary as well as delivering some quotes that summed up the NEA perfectly, including ‘We’ve been encouraged to aspire to being more than just good enough…” Highlighting that the NEA has stressed upon him and his classmates ‘the importance to strive for excellence’. He noted that the pressures and tasks prepared them not only for the real world of business but beyond that, encouraging a ‘can do’ attitude to life. He finished his speech by telling his classmates to never lose sight of their vision. A standing ovation followed with Peter taking the mic to say that Ayo’s speech was one of the best he had ever heard!

Ayo Jenyo, Student Ambassador and Entrepreneur of The Year for The NEA wows the crowd!

After each student received their certificate and posed for a quick picture with Mr Jones himself, Jayne Bailey, Director of Curriculum, took to the stage with a heartfelt speech which brought to life all of the hard work across the year. She presented some impressive numbers: the achievements recorded in Amersham (100%) and Manchester (95%) for the Level 3 learners were incredible for a brand new, innovative course, and the Level 2 learners achieved significantly increased figures over National Benchmark, showing once again that the NEA is a centre of excellence which has proven you can teach entrepreneurship, and we taught it brilliantly.

Jayne embedded a commitment to every learner in the NEA that the next step in their careers would be identified and actively targeted as an outcome.  Of the 51 learners who graduated on Friday, 11 will be going on to University with established businesses to help fund their continued learning.  27 are in the interviewing processes after 2 incredible ‘pitch for employment’ days which were held with our business partners the outcome is that many have more than two offers on the table currently! 8 are going on to other courses within Further Education and the last few ‘undecided’ will benefit from the support of the soon to be established Alumni. Impressive indeed when last week the latest statistic regarding graduate success in finding jobs was so disappointing.

National Enterprise Academy Graduation Manchester Class of 2010 - The budding young entrepreneurs!

National Enterprise Academy Graduation Amersham Group - The budding young entrepreneurs!

The eagerly awaited awards were next on the agenda with the whispers of students wondering who was going to win the coveted Entrepreneur of The Year Award. The awards were as follows:

Ayodele Jenyo – Entrepreneur of the Year

Sarah Chester – Manchester Level 3 Entrepreneur of the Year

Ratnesh Bakhai – Amersham Level 3 Entrepreneur of the Year

Louis John – Amersham Level 2 Entrepreneur of the Year

Not only did the winners get a certificate and award, they were awarded a brand new iPad courtesy of Apple and the NEA, as well as a tailor-made suit courtesy of Peter Jones himself and the invitation to accompany Peter while filming the next series of Dragon’s Den.

A big thank you to everyone who helped us this year, from providing work experience to supplies, our business partners are the ones who help make it all happen. A particular thank you to those who joined us on the day.

The teens who love being their own boss

As printed in the Manchester Evening News Thursday 1st July 2010. Article written by Karen Connolly

Most of today’s teenagers are likely to be found clubbing, shopping, playing computer games or listening to their iPods,

but Manchester’s National Enterprise Academy is encouraging them to be motivated and start their own business. Karen

Connolly meets two of its enterprising graduates.

Ashleigh and Natalie from the NEA love being their own boss

SETTING up a businessis a daunting prospect for anyone, but for someone who’s barely reached adulthood, it can be terrifying. Right? Well, maybe not. If there’s one thing youngsters possess that adults have long outgrown, it’s that they are not

constrained or conditioned by their experiences, largely because they haven’t had any negative ones in the workplace.

Furthermore, youngsters have no concept of ‘towing the corporate line’ just as they are not familiar with ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’ – both well-used phrases in the business world. And, perhaps because of this, becoming an entrepreneur at a young age has a lot to recommend it. Manchester’s National Enterprise Academy (NEA) aims to encourage 16 to 19-year-olds to develop their entrepreneurial potential and help make the UK one of the most enterprising countries in the world.

Backed by the government and founded last year by Dragons’ Den judge Peter Jones, one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs, the Academy is the country’s first educational institution solely dedicated to enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Mr Jones, 44, says: “I’m on a mission to change the way young people in the UK learn about business and enterprise, that’swhy, last year, I launched the National Enterprise Academy. “The reality is that enterprise and entrepreneurship are skills that can be taught and that’s what’s so exciting about the potential of the NEA.”

And the Academy is very quickly turning traditional education on its head to give its students a ‘business brain’, with practical learning and work experience at major companies such as Orange and Manchester City FC. When they complete their courses, they do so with a unique level 2 and 3 BTEC qualifications under their belts. Adds Mr Jones: “The NEA’s unique approach offers young people the opportunity to learn first-hand from real-life entrepreneurs and business professionals.”

This summer sees the first batch of the Academy’s graduates and among them are two teenagers who are already making

their mark as young entrepreneurs:

Natalie Hutchinson

NATALIE is 19 and started up NH Designs while at the NEA. Her business, which she runs from her home in Blackburn,

provides personalised T-shirts. Natalie targets her business at companies who are looking to market their services or products for a considerably lower cost, and at the younger independent market.

“Setting up my business was part of my course at the NEA,” says Natalie. “I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, but it was my time at the NEA that helped me to put my new business skills into practice and really achieve it.” The teenager admits it’s very early days so profits are not something she is focusing on just yet, but she has had some success in her local area. She says: “I started out by buying a batch of plain T-shirts and decorating them with transfers and selling them to friends and family. “Gradually, word got out and people began to ask me to design for them, mainly Tshirts, but others started to ask for other personalised products, such as key rings.”

Natalie has just been offered a job with L’Oreal in Manchester, but hopes to be able to expand her own business at the same time. She says: “I’m delighted to have secured a job with such a prestigious company like L’Oreal, but I’m keen to keep NH Designs going. “I’ve no doubt that a major part of my business success is down to my time at the NEA, I gained so much invaluable experience there. “I learned about the mindset of an entrepreneur through guest speakers – I couldn’t have got that anywhere else and I have adopted that ‘can do’ attitude that great entrepreneurs have. “I’m not afraid to come up with an idea and make it happen.”

Ashleigh Winter

ASHLEIGH is 17 and runs an events management business with a difference. She started Push Boutique soon after starting at

the Academy and describes the business as ‘pushing the boundaries of fashion’. Ashleigh says: “I’ve always had a huge interest in fashion yet knew that I needed something unique if I was to incorporate my love for it into a successful business. “I also wanted to target young people, so I came up with the idea of organising a complete event around the catwalk show. This way people can view the latest fashions, while listening to new live bands in a good atmosphere.” Push Boutique also helps with

fashion advice too.

Ashleigh says: “Coming to the event is a whole experience because we offer tips and advice on style, make-up and hair. “Customers can also buy the clothes they see at the event.” The enterprising teenager has already staged one successful fashion event, which attracted 50 people and resulted, she says, in her making a ‘small, but decent profit’ from it. “I organise everything myself,” she says. “That includes making the tickets, booking the venue, sourcing local, unsigned bands and hunting out designers.

“ I’ve got a few friends in the modelling profession who have modelled the clothes for me.” Ashleigh says she has been given constant support by the Academy and believes the courses not only encourage entrepreneurial skills, but independence in its students. “Being at the NEA is like being in a real business environment – normal working hours, dressing for work, things like that. “Students are encouraged to work as a team and on their own. I’m much more independent and very motivated. “The NEA also brings in some amazing guest speakers from the business world and I left the classes feeling really driven.”

Got an idea? Need some advice? How about a breakfast session with Peter Jones to talk it through?

Are you 16-18 years old?

Do you have a passion? (of course you do – but what is it is the question!)

Have you thought about how to turn that passion into a business?

If the answer to these questions is yes then our new competition ‘Make Your Passion Happen’ is for you!!

What’s your passion?

You know what you love. You know what your passion are. At the National Enterprise Academy we believe that the best entrepreneurs are the ones who listen to that passion and transform it into their future. That’s why we’re teaming up with Grant Thornton to give at young people the chance to take the first steps towards their future.

The Competition

Whatever you’re passionate about; whether it’s music, sport, fashion, technology or something else, if you can tell us how you would turn that passion into an idea for a business then you could win Breakfast with Dragon’s Den star and successful entrepreneur Peter Jones and other exciting prizes.

You can enter on your own or in groups of up to 3 people.

What do you need to do?

You can tell us how you would make your passion happen in any format you like. You can make a video or a PowerPoint, an audio clip or take a photograph, or you can just write us an essay. Remember entrepreneurs are creative people so use your imagination.  The important thing is that you describe exactly how your passion would make a great business.

But we don’t just want your word for it. Imagine your business is up and running, what would your customers say about it? We want you to tell us in 20 words or less.

Then what?

If we think you’ve got what it takes to make your passion happen we will invite you to one of 3 regional finals to be held in South East England, North West England and Yorkshire. Here you will have the chance to work with business people and look at your ideas in more depth. Finalists will then give a presentation to a specially selected panel describing what next steps they will have to take to turn those ideas into a business.

One individual and one group winner will be selected at each of the finals to have breakfast with Peter Jones

How to Enter

Entries can be emailed to myph@thenea.org or posted to Make Your Passion Happen c/o The National Enterprise Academy, Palliser House, Palliser Road, West Kensington, W14 9EQ. All entries must be accompanied by an official entry form (the form can be found on the website www.thenea.org and click below the WIN BREAKFAST WITH PETER JONES icon)

One thing to note – sadly we cannot accept videos via email. You can either upload your video to YouTube and email us the link or save your video to CDROM and post it to us.

Entries must be received before the closing date of Friday 29^th October 2010

Good Luck!!

The Budget 2010… what does it mean for small businesses and entrepreneurs?

In his budget statement, the Chancellor set out his goal for an enterprise-led economy, underpinned by business growth while the size of the public sector is reduced. To achieve this goal, and to help neutralise accusations that the sharp spending reductions proposed in the budget will hit the recovery, the Chancellor set out three key measures to boost enterprise:

1. Corporation Tax – Corporation Tax will be reduced by 1% a year for each of the next four years, falling from 28% to 24% in 2014-15. By that time, the annual cost of the policy will be £2.7bn. In addition, a proposed increase in the small profits rate of Corporation Tax to 20% will be worth some £1.4bn to small firms by 2014-15.

2. National Insurance – A key Conservative pledge during the general election was to reverse Labour’s proposed National Insurance increases. In pursuance of this, the threshold for employer NI contributions will rise from 2011-12, at a cost of £3.7bn a year by 2014-15.

3.Regional jobs – To support jobs in regions outside London, the South East and the East of England, the Government will introduce a temporary relief on employer NI contributions for jobs created by new businesses in those regions. The scheme will run for three years, starting this year, and will be worth almost £1bn.

Want to get more info?

Twitter was awash with Budget tweets today (search twitter with the hashtag #junebudget to find out what people are saying) and HM Treasury have sent out a link to an ‘easy to browse’  budget document (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/junebudget_easyread.htm)

Reminder: NEA Students call for local businesses to come to our unique access-all areas event tomorrow!

Tomorrow, On June 16^th students from the NEA will throw open the doors to the Academy during a unique open event targeted at local businesses and entrepreneurs. Fancy coming along? Just reply to this blog post and let us know so we can send you details.

The brainchild of current NEA students, the one-off event is designed to engage the local business community and showcase the importance and value of supporting the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs.

Local businesses will get the opportunity to meet the students and see firsthand how the National Enterprise Academy works collaboratively with local, national and global businesses – including leading telecommunications brand, Orange – to equip young people with skills and confidence to thrive in the modern business world.

The event, which starts at 5.00pm at the National Enterprise Academy’s Buckinghamshire campus located at Amersham and Wycombe College, will give local business leaders an insight into the Academy’s pioneering approach to teaching entrepreneurship and highlight the wealth of opportunities for local businesses to get involved.

Current National Enterprise Academy student and event organiser, Daniel Meade, said:

“Over the past year we’ve been fortunate to learn from loads of accomplished business professionals who’ve taken the time out to share their knowledge and experience with us. It’s been an amazing experience and one that I wouldn’t want next year’s students to miss out on. That’s why we decided to create a special event to bring together the local business community, show them exactly what we are about and prove to them why they should be supporting the next generation of business talent.”