Finalists in the government’s Enterprising Britain competition got a welcome surprise this week when TV dragon Peter Jones popped round to judge them.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s (DBERR) annual competition aims to find the UK’s most enterprising areas.
One of the 12 finalists named by the DBERR is Croydon Enterprise, which provides support to budding entrepreneurs in the local area.
Jones, one of the panellists on BBC2’s Dragons’ Den, made an unannounced call to the Croydon Enterprise hotline, posing as a potential window cleaning entrepreneur. After the call he praised the advice and support he had received.
The TV entrepreneur also visited pupils at a local school and said some of the children would soon be ‘chasing his coat tails’ as entrepreneurs.
Speaking about the pupils he met on a visit to Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College, Jones said:
“I have been sitting with them and finding out how they are starting businesses. I'm quite impressed. There are people who have started with as little as £50 and are making money. You have some real little entrepreneurs here.”
The overall winner of Enterprising Britain 2007 will be announced on September 27.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
