'Dragon's Den' business challenge for school pupils

A group of 40 pupils, from seven schools across South Yorkshire, have been divided into teams and given the task of designing a fashion shop of the future. Each team will then pitch their ideas to a Dragon's Den-style panel today, which will include Ms Young and Richard Pinfold, marketing director of Meadowhall.

This is the first event set up by the South Yorkshire Enterprise Learning Partnership.

Ms Young said: "This is such a great project and I'm delighted to be involved. I think more local business leaders should be getting out there and inspiring the younger generations to get passionate about business and develop their enterprising skills.

"I can't wait to see what the students come up with and I hope that they find it exciting to work on. I think it's key that students have 'real life' projects and can relate to the working adult world."

Mr Pinfold added: "Young people and education in our communities is a key focus in our corporate social responsibility plans, and we're delighted to be supporting this enterprise education challenge.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the students' thoughts and ideas on the future of fashion retail."

Today's session runs from 2pm to 4pm at the shopping centre and the winning students set to receive 500 in prizes.

Prior to today's event, the pupils took part in a day of workshops at the Magna centre in Rotherham,to prepare for the "Dragon's Den" final.

South Yorkshire Enterprise Learning Partnership co-ordinator Lucy Teagle said: "It's fantastic to have Claire and the Meadowhall team involved in this project. We hope that the students will be really enthused and that it will open their eyes to the opportunities out there."