The Fiver Challenge: pupils to start own business with a £5 loan

Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street and Department for Business, Innovation & Skills reported that primary school children will be given the chance to start their own business with a £5 loan under a new scheme to encourage young entrepreneurs.

The Fiver Challenge will give thousands of pupils aged up to 11 the chance to set up their own business and learn about the world of enterprise.

20,000 children from 500 primary schools across the UK are expected to take part this year by creating products or services to sell at a profit – which they are allowed to keep – and then return the original loan to the Fiver Bank. It is run by Young Enterprise in partnership with Virgin Money and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The first round of the challenge will run in June 2014 with a national award ceremony in September for top entrepreneurs.

Those who are interested in taking part will need to register their interest at: fiverchallenge@y-e.org.uk

Is this an opportunity for accountants and lawyers to work with local schools to provide some tuition to school children?

There more on the scheme on the Young Enterprise website, here.

The scheme was announced on the same day Lord Young formally launched a review of enterprise activities in education at a visit to Lauriston Primary School in Hackney. The review will make recommendations on how to inspire more people with the entrepreneurial spirit needed to succeed in employment or enterprise. See press release here.

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Martin Pollins

Managing Director at One Smart Place

Martin Pollins is a Chartered Accountant and MBA with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He has served on the boards of several companies, including those listed on the London Stock Exchange, AIM and OFEX. He is Chairman and Founder of OneSmartPlace and was a Council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales from 1988 to 1996. He was managing partner of PRB Martin Pollins, based in Sussex, the first Accountancy firm to advertise on British television.He went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK’s first Accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK (at the time, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the UK). In recent years, he helped to raise several £millions to fund British films such as The Da Vinci Code, Bridge of San Luis Rey, Head in the Clouds and Merchant of Venice with actors such as Charlize Theron, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, F. Murray Abraham. Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Audrey Tautou, Penélope Cruz, Steven Berkoff, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes and many more.

He has written over 700 business publications (see Glossaries at https://onesmartplace.com/resources/glossaries/) and is editor of Better Business Focus (see https://onesmartplace.com/resources/better-business-focus-magazine). His Blog, on a wide range of subjects can be found at: https://onesmartplace.com/blog/

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