Plea for school lessons in enterprise

Wakefield-based Claire Young, who was a finalist in The Apprentice in 2008, believes more teachers should welcome entrepreneurs into their classrooms.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is calling for closer ties between companies and local schools.

The FPB has made a number of proposals to stimulate economic growth as part of its submission to the All-party Parliamentary Small Business Group’s entrepreneurship inquiry, which opened last month.

The FPB’s ideas are backed by Ms Young, who said last night: “As a country we are desperate for a generation of new businesses, however, if we don’t nurture our young people to give them the insight, knowledge and passion about entrepreneurship how do we expect it to happen?”

Ms Young is the owner of www.schoolspeakers.co.uk, a company that provides 165 speakers who go into schools to provide talks, workshops and enterprise days.

The not-for-profit FPB also made submissions on issues such as tax breaks for lenders, National Insurance holidays, access to finance, prompt payment and the new enterprise allowance scheme. Jane Bennett, the forum’s head of campaigns, said: “Schools are vitally important because they are where young minds are honed and appetites for working life whetted.”