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    Top Start to Tycoon Competition

    Entrepreneurial Kimbolton students head the leaderboard of the national Tycoon enterprise competition.

    A team of entrepreneurial Kimbolton students are currently heading the leaderboard of the national Tycoon enterprise competition 2021-22. In our school’s second year of entering the contest, team Sambar is in number one position, showing a £453 profit since trading began last term. The group of five business-minded Lower Sixth Formers – Anna, Claudia, Lucia, Maisy and Poppy - are selling a range of beautiful handmade jewellery, which includes beaded necklaces, bracelets and adjustable rings. One of their bestsellers is a “fidget ring”, which features a millefiori bead that rotates and is helpful for pupils with anxiety. 

    Team Miscellaneous, meanwhile, is sitting in third place in the competition with a £313 profit, from sales of patchwork tote bags made from old jeans. Shocked by fashion industry waste statistics, team members Charlie, Charlotte, Donna, Ellie, Emily, James, Katie and Lily prioritise recycling materials and making quality bags in the most sustainable way. The students meet weekly to discuss their business plans: changing aspects that are not working, speeding up production, and coming up with new ideas for future products.

    Tycoon is a unique student competition developed by Peter Jones CBE - a familiar face from BBC Dragons’ Den. Each participating team writes a business plan, is lent money (repayable when the company breaks even), starts a business and competes with other student companies across the UK. Kimbolton has a total of five teams in this year’s Tycoon 2K competition for Sixth Form students aged 16-18: Sambur, Miscellaneous, Ben Co, Bee Co, and Playback - look out for them online, in the School Shop, and at local events and outlets.

    Mr Jon Saunders, Head of Business Studies at Kimbolton, said: “The competition is a great opportunity for students to bring their classroom learning to life and engage in real-world business practice. All of our teams have shown great entrepreneurial skills in successfully pitching their business ideas.”