News: Rotherham MP backs Peter Jones' Tenner Tycoon campaign

Rotherham's John Healey MP is supporting a scheme that sees school kids encouraged to start a business with just £10 each.

The Wentworth and Dearne MP is backing Tenner Tycoon, which will see the campaigning charity Enterprise UK loan hundreds of thousands of pounds to young people across the UK to encourage them to start up their own businesses.

Participants in Tenner Tycoon will receive £10 and be challenged to make as much profit and social good as they can in a month.

The scheme is similar to Rotherham Ready's successful "Make £5 Blossom" scheme and Mr Healey will work with the world-leading Rotherham project to make sure as many young people as possible get involved.

John Healey MP said: "When I helped set up Rotherham Ready we wanted to give all young people entrepreneurial skills and business acumen. From that Rotherham was recently crowned the most enterprising place in Britain.

"Tenner Tycoon is another chance for our young people to showcase their skills and ingenuity whilst gaining practical business experience. Initiatives like this aim to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and ensure the future prosperity of the UK."

Catherine Brentnall, Project Officer for Rotherham Ready added: "Rotherham was recently crowned The Most Enterprising Place in Britain and part of what wowed judges was the spirit of entrepreneurship and "can do" that young people demonstrated. We hope as many young people as possible take part in this and show judges just what makes Rotherham so special."

The competition runs from March 1 – March 31 and offers up to 40,000 young people under the age of 19 to make money, make a difference and give back. The money in the Tenner Bank has been generously funded by Peter Jones, Big Lottery Fund and Michael and Xochi Birch, founders of social networking site Bebo.

Rotherham Ready website
Tenner Tycoon website

Images: brchamber.co.uk