20 | Aycliffe Today Business
STATION
INSPIRATION
WORDS: ADAM STEEL PICTURES: STUART BOULTON
Overall winners at the Future Business Magnates awards Bishop Auckland’ s St. John’ s School and Sixth Form College. Pictured from left: Alice Chilvers, Erin Clarke, Ella Stanbridge, Amadeusz Nowicki, Callum Giblin, Rebekah Lees, Katy Mattison and Jessica Dailey.
13th annual Future Business Magnates competition a big hit with schools and employers again
Business Durham raised a glass to the firms who took part in Future Business Magnates, giving the region’ s youth of today inspiration for tomorrow, as the annual project’ s prize-giving enjoyed centre stage at the Xcel Centre on Aycliffe Business Park.
The competition is organised by Business Durham and encourages local companies to team up with schools and help them create fresh commercial concepts, while providing an insight into the working world.
Employers from across the Business Park and beyond got involved in the 13th edition of the scheme and Gary Chaplin, Enterprise Development Manager for Business Durham, said FBM is indebted to all concerned for their continued support in helping and uplifting young people.
“ Businesses like Ebac and Frank’ s the Flooring Store and from all over Aycliffe Business Park and right throughout the county are extremely generous towards FBM and have been very, very supportive this year and over the years,” he said.
“ In the past, companies like Hitachi have been involved, and smaller businesses act as specialist support as well.
“ We’ ve had businesses who have taken part like Waterstons IT Consultancy in Durham who have had young people come back to them after FBM for work experience and they are also anticipating getting some employees out of it, so it really is an effective and worthwhile scheme for everyone involved.”
Chaplin said FBM provides an important business grounding for the youngsters who participate, and gives them a leg-up when it comes to applying for jobs and being selfmotivated after education.
The enterprise competition features Year 8 pupils aged 12-13 from the county’ s schools and runs throughout the academic year.
“ The North East has fewer new business start-ups than anywhere else in the country, and FBM is very much a hearts and minds project,” Chaplin added.
“ We have got to start with our young people and implant in them the notion that starting a business isn’ t something that other people do, it’ s something that they can do.
“ Something that can change their lives and give them control of their own destiny.
“ By the same token, I’ m not saying that everyone who does FBM should go off and start a business, but it gives them a lot of the qualities that employers value.
“ We ' ve had a lot of bright sparks in it, and this year ' s competition was particularly close.”
Europe ' s leading manufacturer of dehumidifiers, water coolers and washing machines, Ebac joined up with students from Woodham Academy for this year’ s instalment, with the theme based around ' Durham Smart County '.
The students collaborated on user-friendly wheelchair enhancements with the firm, and its financial director Graham Currie said FBM remains as useful as ever for both participating companies and schools alike.
“ We ' ve been involved with FBM probably since its inception, and I ' ve been involved for seven or eight years now myself,” he said.
“ I think it’ s an excellent project outside the general curriculum that gives students a real insight into the workplace and what life is like beyond education.