Business students enter the Dragon’s Den!

City of Portsmouth College’s first-year A Level Business students got their own version of the hit BBC show Dragon’s Den, with the chance to pitch their own ideas to local entrepreneurs – and to win a lucrative prize.

The event, which builds into the national Peter Jones Tycoon Project competition, students had an opportunity to pitch ideas, receive feedback and the opportunity for prizes and further business mentoring from a panel of judges – Amber Dyer (founder and director of Southsea Nature Nursery), Jeev Sahoo (director of Step8up Academy), Mark Hussey (owner of Hallmark Jewellers) and Matthew Critchley (CEO of Odin Stones).

With a range of ideas from Activewear Clothing, Marketing Agency, Car Detailing, Chocolate Strawberries, Protein Balls, Commemorative T-shirts, Designer Bags – plus the overall winning idea of Subscription Pet Boxes – the pitches were exceptionally delivered and highlighted the teamwork, resilience and effort made by students.

This was an opportunity for students to develop their presentation skills, understand more about what businesses look for and be challenged by some of our wonderful local business owners.

Pitching for five minutes, the teams of students then were grilled by Dragons and offered some immediate feedback in the aftermath.

The winning team with their Subscription Pet Boxes were Julia Hornik, Rafael Hurdle, Mahdi Ibrahimi and Roneil Serieux, who won individual Amazon vouchers plus mentoring for the project the students will submit to the Peter Jones Tycoon Project competition in the next academic year.