Solihull Students Win Dragon’s Den Victory

Budding entrepreneurs at Grace Academy Solihull have been awarded £300 after winning a Dragon’s Den style competition to test their new business ideas.

Chris Hallam, Santander’s Regional Director of Business Development, put the students through their paces as they pitched their original business concepts, with proto-types and promotional material, to a panel of business experts.

Solihull students Brandon Greenaway, Carl Coleman, and Kelsey Garner, fought bravely to win the victor’s prize after some fiery questioning in the Dragon’s lair, and strong competition from students at Grace Academy Coventry.

Chris Hallam, Santander, one of the Dragon’s Den judges, said:

“This competition just keeps getting stronger every year. The level of invention and initiative demonstrated by the students is excellent. I continue to be impressed at the work undertaken by all the students both in lessons, and in their own time, to create and develop profitable ideas and then to pitch them as effortlessly as they did. Grace Academy is doing a great job in facilitating entrepreneurial thinking.”

The winning business idea was called ‘Crosshair’, a nylon pad that could be used on hairbrushes to help any hair collected on the brush to be pulled off with ease. Jeremy Douglas-Jones, Business Facilitator, Grace Academy, said:

“It is a real privilege to work with big business when you are helping students to develop enterprising skills. It was wonderful to see the progress each student made at each stage in the competition after coming up with the original concept, to presenting it to banking professionals.

“The most valuable moment was watching students mentored by bankers on how to improve their pitch and see their progress from Monday to Friday. Their input was invaluable and gives them insights into business many people would only get much further down the line in the business careers. This kind of project helps to inform our students’ future education and career choices, and gives them first hand experience of the thinking of potential investors. Thank you Santander for investing your people and resources into our students.”