Enterprise UK Blog

The Yorkshire and Humber team had a great time attending Venturefest in York (a one day expo bringing together science, technology and knowledge entrepreneurs) this week as part of the Enterprise Inspirations exhibition.

Schools were very keen to find out about Make Your Mark with a Tenner and we look forward to receiving more of their registrations – Selby High School registered from the event!

We were also very pleased to see King James’s School from Knaresborough who were entering their idea from taking part in the Make Your Mark Challenge last year into a competition at the event. The team were inspired by the Make Your Mark Challenge – Use local inspiration to create a cool creation and have continued to turn their idea into reality…….

Hello to everyone registered for Make Your Mark with a Tenner (not registered yet? Make sure you do by Wednesday 17 February),

Wow!  I can’t believe that over 20,000 places have already been filled for this year’s Tenner.  It only seems like a few minutes ago that we opened for business!  It’s going to be a VERY busy couple of months at Tenner Towers!!!

Here are the main things I’ll be encouraging the judges to look out for this year;

1)    It takes real get-up-and-go to get out beyond the school gates and engage with your local community.  I’ll be especially impressed by anyone who does this!

Registration for Make Your Mark with a Tenner opened on 11 January and we’ve already pledged to give over 17,000 students £10 for the month of March so that they can come up with creative and enterprising ideas to make profit and make a difference.

That’s a lot of enterprising students but we’ve still got money to give, the piggy bank isn’t empty yet so find out more and get involved at www.enterpriseuk.org/tenner

Only 3 weeks to go before the deadline of One Big Idea, 12 Feb!!

We are looking for innovative, ethical business ideas which can be used to help solve a development issue in Malawi. This is all about the 3 P’s: people, planet, profit.

It could be something to do with energy, food, education or transport. You can find out ideas here and vote for your favourite!

Remember this is a competition open to everyone. Schools can have up to 5 separate entries.

Any questions, get in touch: alexscott-tonge[at]enterpriseuk.org

There were some confused faces around the Nissan Manufacturing Plant yesterday as their site was invaded by a Polar Bear! Lucky for them this one was harmless and in fact wanted nothing more than to tell them all about Global Warming and protecting the environment.

Percy the Polar Bear is the main character in a series of locally set books developed by Northumberland Church of England School. The books use familiar local surroundings to hammer home the importance of looking after the places we love living in for the next generation.

What a great start to our GEW build up – awarding the accolade ‘UK’s Most Enterprising Male’ to a student from the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Ben Campbell, from Birkdale School in Sheffield, won the title after his teacher, Kathy McKay, recognised his entrepreneurial qualities and put him forward for the Make Your Mark Club Enterprising Award.

Ben’s long list of enterprising achievements is staggering, especially when we consider he is just 12 years old!

I have great pleasure in announcing that Chloe Peters from Beacon Hill High School in Blackpool won the Make Your Mark Club Most Enterprising Female Student Award 2009.

I went to visit Chloe and her team mates and was extremely inspired by all that the Fairtrade Fairytales have been up to. Fairtrade Fairytales are a group of year 8 girls who have been linked up with a school in Tanzania through Achievers International. They have been importing bracelets designed by the students in Tanzania and them selling them in the community.

Do you view celebrities as entrepreneurs?

Their are some very interesting views on this one in the Make Your Mark Forum, to find out what they are join in and have your say. From Rhianna umbrellas to Bill Oddie Binoculars.

Join in on the forum and wet your entreprenuerial appetitie with topics from your big idea to being networked.

See you in the forum!!!!!

Everyone is talking about the very emotive words of wisdom from the parents of Make Your Mark Ambassadors. So for one of those my parents used to say moments

“A negative can nearly always be turned into a positive and if mistakes are made occasionally the golden rule is to learn from them and move on.”

For a bit more encouragement and heartfelt words of advice check out www.makeyourmark.org.uk/parents

Nominations for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion 2010 have now opened.  Lord Mandelson suggests that ‘recipients of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP) are outstanding individuals who are inspiring tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and giving them the skills and attitudes they need to succeed’ and that ‘they hold the key to unlocking Britain’s entrepreneurial talents and they deserve all the praise and thanks we can give them.’

Last year’s winners of the Award included Make Your Mark Ambassador Jamie Murray-Wells and longstanding MYM friend Charles Cracknell, as well as others including lecturers, teachers and practitioners. If you feel that someone deserves recognition for their role in promoting enterprising skills and attitudes then nominate them now!

Well amongst other very exciting topics I have hand picked one especially for YOU!!!!

How important are your parents in supporting your entrepreneurial journey? 

Share your answers in the Make Your Mark Forum.

I rang a teacher friend of mine last night, who was enjoying a few drinks and a late night take away before having a long lie in this morning and then jetting off on a three week holiday this weekend. As I was battling with delayed tubes, flooded stations and the prospect of another day in a hot stuffy office I couldn’t help feel a bit jealous.

You’ve waited patiently and now they’re here – simply go to our Flickr  pages to view photos from the event.

Wondering what a Club Meet-up is? It’s for students in enterprise groups in schools across the UK – visit www.makeyourmarkclub.org.uk for more information.

On 8th July the flagship event for Shine Week, Talent Matters was full of inspiring people from all walks of life entrepreneurs, engineers, sport who all gave thier persepctives on talent. Make Your Mark supported this event and our very own Fat lemon boys were there long with our winners of the Ideas MashUp competition for further education students.

These were the words of inspiration they gave to the young talented people in the room

Cath Kidston   ” it’s better to try and fail than not to try at all ”

The National Railway Museum was the perfect venue for the Club meet-up in York on Wednesday 15th July due to the highly entrepreneurial background that lies beneath the free-entry museum.

The day was crammed full of activities encouraging students from several schools to engage with one another, create new ideas and to showcase the business ventures they had embarked on this year. After having delved into a range of games such as networking bingo and play your cards right, the student’s entrepreneurial skills were well-warmed by the time they had to set present their projects at the Meet-up Market.