Why the Ryman National Enterprise Challenge is such an opportunity for young people...

This is my fourth year as an ambassador for the Ryman National Enterprise Challenge, and I am no less excited about seeing the quality of finalists this summer, than I was in that first year. It really can be a life-enhancing experience for the students and their teachers and this is why, for me, it is such a fantastic initiative to be involved in. 

At the London launch late last year, it was wonderful to hear from former winning students and teachers about how the National Enterprise Challenge has helped them on so many levels; boosting their skill sets, making them aware of the world of work, building their confidence and making them think about things in a whole new way. The teachers were particularly passionate about seeing the transformation in their students who took part, gaining confidence throughout the competition and the positive impact that this had on other areas of their school work and lives in general. I believe, like these teachers, that these skills are worth their weight in gold, and am delighted to see more schools and students entering every year.

I am very passionate about young people learning about business and gaining the skills needed to succeed in the workplace from an early age, and the National Enterprise Challenge offers this in bucket loads. It encourages commercial thinking that crosses from the initial brand invention and marketing, through to their vision, strategy and end product or service.  I support the National Enterprise Challenge because it gives young people the confidence to believe in themselves. Not only for them, to encourage young people to arm themselves with business knowhow and skills is so important for the UK too – enabling our future business leaders from an early age on thinking about business in detail, and finding their passion early.

My team at Ryman has also been involved in the development of the student challenges over the last few years and they have always been fun, interesting and tapping into the new technology available, and fresh ways of working. Being able to adapt their skill sets from an early age is so important in the coming years, as a huge percentage of careers as we know them now, may not even exist in ten years’ time. 

Encouraging the skills of teamwork, leadership, collaboration and the art of communicating effectively is essential for these young people, and as a judge it is fantastic to see these skills in action time and time again, with confidence and often humour. Judging the winners is something that seems to be getting harder and harder and I expect this year to be no exception.

I am looking forward to seeing the calibre on show.  Teachers, parents and students take note, this is well worth a look…