MTS Tycoons Win Dragons' Innovation Prize

The Careers department was there with our first ever Peter Jones Foundation Tycoon Enterprise Competition team, who won the national Innovative Business Award, coming top in a field of about 260 other schools-based business teams.

The MTS Team ‘Stylux’ used their skills from D&T combined with great business acumen to design and manufacture protective caps for the styluses used by pupils in school. They supplemented their main product with other accessories, some of which they also made themselves and some that they bought in. The Tycoon competition requires teams to come up with a business idea, create a business plan including a pitch for a start-up loan, submit it to Tycoon for approval (and receive the loan) and then trade for a finite period. The Stylux team were not only innovative but made a good profit, all of which they donated – some to the Peter Jones Foundation to support future Tycoon students and some to the Michael Sobell House Hospice at Mount Vernon Hospital.

We are so proud of our team made up of Aviral, Oliver, Pranav, Samay, Shay and Thomas who threw themselves into the Tycoon project with great enthusiasm and commitment in the Spring term of their Divisions year. Huge thanks must also go to our parent volunteer mentor, Georgiana, who skilfully guided the team through the competition stages. And finally, a big shout-out for Thomas, who was the first person in the audience of several hundred to rise to the challenge from guest speaker Anthony Bennet to say ‘Yes!’ and step up to the stage. A fantastic demonstration of how overcoming fear and saying yes to things, really reaps rewards (in this case, an Amazon voucher!).

Now in the Fifth Form, some members of the team have reflected on what they have taken away from the whole experience of taking part and reaching the national finals below:

“For me, the Tycoon finals was an amazing experience. I thought it was really cool to see all the innovative businesses people had come up with, with even some Year 6s there selling Christmas-themed gifts. Later, we got to meet Peter Jones himself, before going up on stage to receive the Innovation award. Personally, the highlight of the event was a motivational speech from "the miracle man" who told us about how we could grasp opportunities and achieve things simply through saying yes, rather than holding ourselves back, an idea that really resonated with me and that I hope to apply to my own life. Overall, a great day out in London that I really enjoyed, while spending time with my teammates and friends.” (Aviral A. 5ths)

“The Tycoon experience has been both an enjoyable and informative opportunity – something of a rare balance! I found running a physical business in a real environment much more effective preparation for the world of work than just learning from textbooks – our decisions carried genuine weight. It was great to practice organisation skills including time management and planning for the future, as well as financial skills and principles. All of this was infused with a small dose of stress, to make it more memorable!” (Shay N. 5ths)

“Participating in the Tycoon Enterprise has taught me so many skills that are crucial for running a business but also ones that can be transferred to anything such as teamwork, leadership, financial skills and many more – I have loved every moment of the journey. This all reached its end at the Tycoon Finals. We had the chance to meet so many other businesses and talk to them about how they found the program while also having the chance to present our business to people invited to the event, even Peter Jones himself! The talk from Anthony Bennett who had to be resuscitated thirteen times and now tells his story of how he survived to thousands of people across the world was truly inspirational. He explained how he was afraid to speak publicly when he was younger and now, because he took a chance by saying “yes” a few times, he has completely shifted. Therefore, the key message was to say “yes” to things because you never know what the result of saying that simple word could be. Thank you so much to the MTS Careers departments for giving me the opportunity to take part in this wonderful program.”(Pranav S. 5ths)

The careers department would love to be able to give more pupils the PJF Tycoon experience. The competition runs in the Spring Term each year. Teams meet once a week after school for an hour with their Enterprise Mentor who uses Tycoon resources to help them create their business plan and then sell their products. If being an Enterprise Mentor is something that you would consider, the please do get in touch with us and we can explore how you could join our team of parent and OMT volunteers. Please email careers@mtsn.org.uk.

 And finally, in the true spirit of entrepreneurship, the team would like you to know that if you are interested in their Surface Pro enhancing product range contact Thomas in the Fifth Form – there is only a limited stock left!

Sue Grice

Head of Careers