Filming future entrepreneurs

Newsmaker is delighted to have been commissioned by Business Durham to produce a video marking the 10th birthday of its Future Business Magnates competition.

This year the competition involves teams from 24 of Durham’s 32 secondary schools. Each team is made up of eight Year 8s, supported by a teacher and a business.  Ebac, Hitachi and Thorn Lighting are just some of the businesses supporting their local team.

The theme of this year’s competition is a New Way to Use Light and the teams face six challenges (including a final presentation) where their business strategies (finance, marketing, etc) are put to the test.  Last year’s winning team developed an app to stop bullies becoming bullies.

Newsmaker has already filmed two members of Belmont School as they were interviewed by the competition’s media partner Star Radio.  We have seen Ferryhill School at Thorn Lighting and six teams grappling with the headache of making a business’ finance stack up.  We’ll be gathering more material at the teams’ final presentation before showing the film at the FBM Awards Ceremony on 3 July at Newton Aycliffe’s Xcel Centre. Some of the teams have already told us their idea.  While others are keeping their cards close to their chest!

Listen to interviews with Gary Chaplin from Business Durham and teacher Catherine Purvis-Mawson from one of the competing schools, Framwellgate School, Durham.