Kent Business School is delighted to be working in partnership with Young Enterprise by sponsoring and hosting the first of their annual Company of the Year awards. The awards, run in conjunction with the charity’s Company Programme will take place at Kent Business School’s award-winning Sibson Building on 26 April 2022.
The Young Enterprise Company Programme empowers young people to set up and run a business under the guidance of an adult volunteer. The event will allow local schools and students to come together to showcase their businesses, pitch their companies to a panel with overall winners selected. Winners will compete in the Southeast England awards later in the year.
Outreach Officer, Brendan Hammond says: “The Company Programme is an unbelievable opportunity for youngsters. The businesses they launch as part of this initiative are listed on Companies House, they have directors, they make profits. To be part of this process, to help fund and support growing talent in our county allows us to give back to our community and help build entrepreneurs of the future. We are also very excited to host the event at our award-winning Sibson building and to be able to sponsor four schools to take part and offer up a former student as one of the judging panel.”
The event will host up to nine regional schools, in teams of ten per student business, four of which received funding from KBS.
Michael Anderson, Regional Manager for Young Enterprise in London and the Southeast says: “There’s huge synergy between the KBS outreach programme and YE’s own plans for growth in the county – supporting hard-to-reach young people in developing skills they’ll need for work and life. The Kent Showcase event at the end of April is the first round of our national Company of the Year Awards, Kent Business School has fantastic facilities, and it promises to be a really special day for all of the students involved.
“Considering academic responsibilities and the hectic life of a teenager, this is a hefty undertaking at the best of times – but when you factor the ongoing Covid situation, and specifically the disruption brought on by the Omicron variant, it is very impressive. Regardless of eventual profit or loss, the skills picked up are invaluable, and it is a huge credit to every student that they’ll leave their current school being able to say, hand on heart, that they started a business during a pandemic!”
Judges on the panel include former Kent student Tomiwa Sosanya, who launched his business DoYouCustom as part of KBS’s Business Start Up Journey.
Interested in taking part in a future Company Programme? Find out more here.