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Roundhay pupils' pitch to Sir Alan Sugar
Asmah Mahmood, Sara Ahmad and Takudzwa Chipamaunga are all fans of The Apprentice but they never dreamed they would one day be grilled by its tough-talking star Sir Alan Sugar.
However, that's exactly what the three pupils at Roundhay School Technology and Language College will be facing before the end of this month.
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The trio of teens are the regional winners of the Skills Factor
enterprise contest and have beaten competition from around 300 other teams from around the UK to reach the national final.
When they represent the region at the headquarters of the British Academy Of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), London, on September 24 they will have to tackle the nerve-racking experience of giving a 15-minute Dragons' Den style pitch in front of an audience of around 200, followed by questions from a panel of high-flying business people – including Lord Sugar himself.
Asmah, 17, said: "We watch The Apprentice and Dragons' Den but you never think you will get the chance to do that.
"But it's really like one of those competitions.
"We can't believe that we are going to meet him – I don't think it's properly sunk in yet."
The first stage of the contest was to design a product and come up with a business plan.
Although they didn't actually have to develop their idea, they had to carry out extensive research – including costings, market research, projected national figures, just as if they were going to produce it.
The Leeds team of sixth-formers, who call themselves "On the Go" and are all studying psychology at A-level, designed a portable revision device to help psychology students prepare for their exams.
Their impressive business plan took them through to the regional final of the competition, which is sponsored by Sir Alan Sugar and the Junior Chamber of Commerce and is designed to enhance enterprise and employability skills in young people.
They then had to make a DVD of their idea and the type of business skills they had developed while working on the project, which would help prepare them for the wider world.
They came up with a pastiche of Rocky for their mini movie, which earned them a place in the national final.
Since May they have been spending all their spare time on the project
and now, with just two weeks to go before they take to the stage where stars such as Kate Winslet and Vanessa Redgrave have stood before them, they are devoting all their energy to what they hope will be the winning entry. Asmah said: "To be honest, at the start we were just thinking 'we are never going to get there' but now we are there we are getting a bit nervous because we really want to win it."
They have had help along the way from business mentor Jez Willard, founder of Business and Enterprise Coaching in Harrogate, who the girls said had been "amazing" in supporting them to reach their goal.
Asmah, who lives in Oakwood, said although none of them were studying business at A-level, they had all been motivated by the opportunity to develop their skills and improve their employability through the groundbreaking project.
"That's the main aim for this competition."
She said: "We have learned that teamwork is really important and being able to communicate effectively. People always say communication is important but we've realised that you have to get your message across clearly or no-one understands what you're talking about.
"And we've realised it's important to be creative and to be able to stand out from other people."
Lord Sugar, who left school at 16 to sell car aerials from the back of his car and now has a fortune estimated at around 730m, said: "The Skills Factor offers young people a chance to get involved with local enterprise and to understand the skills needed to start and develop a business.
"Starting out on your own can offer fantastic opportunities, and competitions like this help to show whether such a career choice is right for you"
A recent study found a gap between the skills youngsters leave school with and tho se expected by employers.
Eleanor Hills, former head of enterprise at Roundhay School, said: "The girls said they have learned so much just by doing this project and it will be good on their UCAS statements.
"You need to be ahead of the competition and show general employability skills because that's what businesses are complaining some students haven't got."
She added: "We are extremely proud of all the girls have achieved so far."
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Friday 18 May 2012
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