Skinners’ Academy enjoying their win

Skinners’ Academy triumphed today in their first appearance at the Mosaic Enterprise Challenge Regional Finals, beating four other teams to reach the national Grand Finals of the competition.

Five schools attended the regional final to present their business ideas to a judging panel at RBS in the City of London, with one common goal in mind – reaching the Grand Final in London next month to represent the London region.

The Mosaic Enterprise Challenge London regional final – the last of the Enterprise Challenge finals to take place – saw five talented teams participating in the event that included: Brondesbury College from Brent, Skinners’ Academy from Hackney, Southfields Academy from South Wimbledon, Rivers Academy from Feltham and Abbotsfield School from Uxbridge. Team iRound Up from Skinners’ Academy won the London regional final and will now go onto represent the London region at the Grand Final hosted in London on April 23^rd.

The judging panel included Mike Barry (Chairman of Judges) – Director of Sustainable Business, Marks & Spencer; Meredith Bevan – General Manager, Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5; Saad Choudri – Chief Commercial Officer, Miniclip; Shamial Afzal – Head of CPB Contract Management, RBS; and Wafa Tarnowska – Mosaic Yorkshire Regional Leadership Group Member and a CSR Consultant.

Over 930 secondary school pupils from 23 schools across London participated in the competition before the final five were shortlisted to compete in the regional final, which was generously supported by GibbsS3 and Hermes Investment Management.

Speaking about their win, Mark Daniel speaking on behalf of Skinners’ Academy commented; “We’ve worked really hard with our mentor to get to this stage, we’re just so excited to make the final and can’t wait to meet the other teams!”

Entrepreneur and CEO of GibbsS3, Farida Gibbs, who was a keynote speaker at the event said; “It was a fantastic afternoon. It was great to take them out of the classrom and really develop practical business skills. Developing their business initiative from a young age through a business mentor is key to their personal development and building on their existing skill set.”