2013 Pantrepreneurs Crowned At Old Spitalfields Market

Students from Middlesbrough College have been crowned winners of the PantrepreneurSHIP Challenge 2013, a national student enterprise competition organised by the Gazelle Colleges Group and fair trade underwear brand, Pants to Poverty. 560 students across 17 Further Education colleges were tasked with marketing, promoting and selling ethically sourced designer pants, in an entrepreneurial challenge that encouraged students to apply their creative skills and social awareness in a real-life business challenge that ran for four months from February.

The winning team, Fairwear, comprised five budding entrepreneurs from Middlesbrough College. The team stormed to victory by wowing the panel with their business plan and selling out of their entire stock of pants.Fairwear battled it out against four other college teams at the grand final at Old Spitalfields Market, where they pitched their business model to a panel made up of Ben Ramsden, founder of Pants to Poverty, Ceri Jones, head of policy at Social Enterprise UK, Helen Loveless, Enterprise Editor of the Mail on Sunday, and Anthony Johnston, curriculum development co-ordinator at the University of Arts (London College of Fashion). 34 teams attended the final at Old Spitalfields Market, where 17 sold fair trade clothing as part of the PantrepreneurSHIP final and others displayed their college’s entrepreneurial projects to the public. Some students were able to maximise their sales and raise even more money for charity by taking card payments through Intuit Pay, the mobile payments service supplied free of charge by Intuit.

Team Fairwear can now look forward to a trip to India this autumn where they will get to meet the farmers that supply the cotton to Pants to Poverty and understand the fair trade process first hand. This year’s PantrepreneurSHIP Challenge raised over £27,000, £5,500 of which will be going to support the work of the Pi Foundation. The Gazelle Colleges Group, which organised the competition, comprises 20 colleges which focus on providing entrepreneurial learning opportunities for students, and equipping them with the confidence and skills to make or take a job.

Ben Ramsden, Founder of Pants to Poverty, said: “The Pantrepreneurs were, yet again, truly sensational, demonstrating passion, drive and unerring commitment to enterprise in all the social, environmental and financial dimensions that we embrace as a business. Our winners, Fairwear, from Middlesbrough College, are the perfect example of entrepreneurship and I am positive that they will get on brilliantly with our farmers and factory workers!”

Fintan Donohue, CEO, Gazelle Global, said: “Once again, Gazelle students proved their entrepreneurial ability, and it was inspiring to see teams from colleges across the country come together to celebrate the work of the students and the businesses they have built over the past four months. “As a social enterprise challenge, the PantrepreneurSHIP challenge gets to the heart of what Gazelle is achieving: giving young people the opportunity to learn vital commercial skills in a real business environment and to understand the importance of doing business in a sustainable way.”

Matthew Griffiths from winning team, Fairwear said: “I am so grateful for this experience. People have said that India is going to be hard, but I know I am going to love every minute of it.”

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New Apprenticeship scheme launched to retailers and market traders nationwide

A NEW scheme to help retailers and market traders to recruit talented apprentices is set to be launched across the UK this summer.
The Retail Apprenticeship Scheme (RAS) was piloted last year in a select number of cities but will now be rolled out nationwide to retailers of all sizes – from family businesses and market traders to shopping centres and national chain stores.

The scheme, developed by the National Skills Academy for Retail, will be launched to coincide with Independents’ Day on July 4, a national campaign which gives a voice to the UK’s independent retailers by encouraging people to shop locally and celebrate diversity on the high streets.

RAS – which aims to meet the increased demand for a pool of skilled young retail trainees – has been given the backing of a range of trade associations including:

·         British Independent Retailers Association
·         National Market Traders Federation
·         British Council of Shopping Centres
·         National Federation of Meat and Food Traders
·         National Association of Goldsmiths
·         Association of Cycle Traders
Jane Rexworthy, Head of the National Skills for Academy for Retail, said the pilot scheme had proved that there was a strong appetite for retail Apprenticeships.

“RAS was initially set up to help smaller, independent retailers and market stall holders to take on talented young apprentices, without having to worry about any HR or administration issues. We have already created Apprenticeships at retail businesses in cities including Manchester, Lincoln and Sheffield, and felt that the time was now right to roll the programme out nationally.
“We are also opening up RAS to retailers of all sizes, from independents who may wish to take on one apprentice up to chain stores and national groups where there is a desire to create a whole cohort of Apprenticeships.
“We have received great support for the scheme from organisations such as the NMTF and BCSC which understand the benefits of taking on a RAS apprentice – the quality of delivery, high levels of support, a boost in productivity and ultimately a reliable and skilled member of staff.”
Jane Rexworthy said that while a large percentage of SME retailers could be interested in taking on an apprentice, many were hesitant due to fears over how long it would take to set up and the additional support a young person would need.
“The aim of the Retail Apprenticeship Scheme is to take away all these fears and remove the barriers for retailers in taking on an apprentice,” she said. “The core benefit of RAS is that the apprentice is employed directly by us – this reduces the risk, cost, time and administration for retailers.
We also manage the whole recruitment process, preparing the young people for their new roles with training in core retail skills and matching up each business with a suitable apprentice. There is even an option for smaller businesses to share an apprentice, further easing the burden of cost and responsibility.”
Any retailer looking to take on an apprentice through RAS will be supported through the National Skills Academy for Retail’s UK-wide network of skills shops, which are able to support businesses at a local level.
The number of people studying for Apprenticeships has continued to grow steadily over the past five years and they are now considered a relevant, worthwhile alternative to University study. There are currently more than 3,400 vacant Apprenticeships nationwide in Retail and Commercial Enterprise (*National Apprenticeship Service website; May 21, 2013).
For more information on the Retail Apprenticeship Scheme visit www.nsaforretail.com or call 0207 462 5089