Hopeful teenager graduates from young entrepreneurs' course

Ashleigh Winter, 17, from Hessle, near Hull, graduated from the Manchester campus of the academy, which was launched last September by entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star Peter Jones.

The academy offers students aged between 16 and 19 a one-year practical alternative to academic courses and is aimed at grooming entrepreneurs.

Miss Winter said: "It's completely different and because of that it teaches you so many skills that you wouldn't otherwise be able to develop.

"The academy taught me confidence, how to be professional and gave me a huge range of business knowledge across all areas; now I could enter a business and feel confident in whatever area I was placed in."