London primary school pupils complete business and enterprise course

Around 200 London-based primary school pupils have completed a course to help them learn business skills. Consultancy company Stride Ventures set up Putting Young Minds to Work after the Government called for business and enterprise skills to be introduced to children.

Business owners from the Bermondsey Pub Company, who sponsored the course, shared their experiences of running a business and helped to judge business ideas pitched by the children.

Employability

The pupils learned a wide range of skills to help them boost their employability, such as teamwork, communication skills and self-confidence. They also studied important business-related topics such as how to plan a business, money management and customer focus.

The course also provided the pupils with the opportunity to experience what it is like to run a business. They were given the task of pitching and running their own business over a period of seven weeks with a loan of £40.

Support

Commenting on the programme, Bermondsey Pub Company Managing Director Paul Harbottle stated: “We were keen to throw our support behind the programme to show our commitment to community engagement in and around our pubs.”

He added that pupils have been “rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into this real-life business experience” over the past six months, whilst pub managers have enjoyed re-visiting school to share their skills and to tell the future workforce what they love about having a career in hospitality.

Elena Macia from Stride Ventures described the entrepreneurial spirit shown by the children as “brilliant”, and stated that it has been “exciting and rewarding” for Stride Ventures to see the development of their employability skills.