23 September 2008
Hutton and Premier League put enterprise top of the league
Britain’s youngsters will come top of the business league as
football clubs across the country open their doors to budding
entrepreneurs.
With the support of the Department for Business the Premier
League Enterprise initiative will give young football fans a unique
insight into the running of an exciting multinational business.
Premiership Clubs are preparing to open enterprise programmes that
will become a key part of their commitment to youngsters in their
communities.
Manchester City is the first Premier League football club to
launch its enterprise programme under the initiative announced by
Business Secretary John Hutton in the Enterprise Strategy earlier
this year.
Launching the scheme at Manchester City Football Club, John
Hutton took part in a session that brought the challenges of
business to life for students from the Two Trees Sports College
Denton.
John Hutton said:
“I want to see the UK at the top of the international league and
become the most enterprising nation in the world. Using real
football club examples this scheme will teach young people how to
manage a budget, raise finance and look after customers – essential
skills for any entrepreneur.
"Manchester City’s scheme will have a tremendous impact on the
local community and will provide a range of exciting opportunities
to help develop the next generation of Peter Jones’s. I want to
thank the Premier League and particularly Manchester City,
Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa for their
enthusiastic support in helping young people acquire the skills and
confidence they need to turn their business dreams into
reality”.
Peter Jones leading UK entrepreneur said:
“Sport is a fantastic shop window to attract young people into a
learning environment for business and enterprise skills. Tennis was
my personal gateway to becoming an entrepreneur and football, with
its reach into the community and wide popularity, is a great magnet
for aspiring young entrepreneurs who may be less attracted to more
traditional learning environments. There is a perfect link between
this initiative and my own National Enterprise Academy in both
Manchester and in other areas of the country, and Manchester City
deserves a great deal of praise for taking part in Premier League
Enterprise.”
Manchester City, followed by Aston Villa in October, have based
their initial enterprise programmes on the successful Middlesbrough
Enterprise Academy and accredited by OCR Examinations. The
programmes currently running at Middlesbrough FC and Blackburn
Rovers have already helped hundreds of local children improve their
entrepreneurial skills and increase their awareness of business
planning and finance. Middlesbrough’s Enterprise Academy recently
received a grant of £300,000 from the Premier League/PFA Community
Fund that now forms part of a wider £1.15 million project run with
One North East.
Manchester City Executive Chairman Garry Cook said: "Manchester
City, through its charity City in the Community, is delighted to be
involved in this new scheme. Not only will it build on the already
excellent education work done by CITC, it will help to give young
people in Manchester and Tameside an understanding of Manchester
City as a business rather than just a football club and hopefully
help them to enjoy learning about enterprise along the way."
Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA,
said:
“In the current economic climate it is even more important to
help nurture enterprise. We have recently put our backing into the
creation of enterprise champions within 5 Northwest universities to
capture early enterprise ‘ideas’ at a graduate level. Now we are
supporting this exciting initiative, in a similar strategy, to
attract the interest of young football fans in the region. Football
is a large contributor to the Northwest economy, with more
Premiership clubs here than anywhere else, and it provides an
enthusiastic audience that could be the next Dragons Den hopeful or
even a Dragon themselves. We must capture this talent and
enthusiasm, and support any enterprising ambitions they might
have.”
Notes to Editors
1. Manchester City will be followed by Aston Villa as the
next club to set up enterprise programmes, delivering enterprise
education to 13-14 year olds in curriculum time. Each club will run
an initial three-year programme with up to 5 schools.
2 . Working together, the Department for Business,
Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Premier League and Make Your Mark
will extend the programme to include all Premier League football
clubs, with the costs being split between the Premier League and
regional and local bodies such as Regional Development Agencies,
Local Authorities and schools.
3 . As well as improving understanding of business related
issues, the football enterprise programmes will contribute to
stretching students’ ability, confidence, adaptability and
perseverance, whilst those who successfully complete this
accredited course will receive certificate from OCR
Examinations.
4 . The programme aims to "inspire and challenge" students
and the following elements are proposed, using the football club as
a real example that people can relate to and understand.
• Introduction day at the stadium (to cover stadium tour
with explanation of various staff roles and functions);
• How the football club operates as a business, including aims
and objectives;
• Products and services;
• Marketing;
• Customer service;
• Challenges designed to improve enterprise skills;
• Learning about the world of work and enterprise;
• Career planning (including enterprise opportunities);
and
• Helping promote enterprise messages to wider members of the
local community.
• Incentives will be offered to encourage successful
completion of the course, such as player visits or match
tickets.
5. Middlesbrough F.C. has been running its accredited
enterprise programme since 2003. OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA)
Examinations is a leading UK awarding body, providing a rang of
qualifications for learners of all ages and abilities.
6. For more information on the Premier League/PFA
Community Fund and the wide range of work delivered by Premier
League clubs in the community, visit: www.premierleague.com
7. Make Your Make, the national campaign to unlock the
UK’s enterprise potential, is run by Enterprise Insight, a not for
profit organisation founded by the four main business organisations
(CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors and
Federation of Small Businesses) and is primarily funded by the
Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform.
www.makeyourmark.org.uk
They are best known for coordinating Enterprise Week which last
year involved half a million people in over 5,000 events. This year
it is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week and runs from November
17 – 23. Visit www.enterpriseweek.org.uk
for further information.
8. The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is
leading on this initiative on behalf of England's RDAs with the aim
of rolling this out to other regions in the near future.
9. The National Enterprise Academy, led by the Peter Jones
Foundation, will focus on developing enterprise skills and mindsets
to equip young people for business. Enterprise skills are
particularly important to UK business. The NEA will develop
qualifications, programmes and services that are relevant to
employers seeking enterprising young talent, and for those young
people who see themselves as the UK's next generation of business
leaders and entrepreneurs
Peter Jones is one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and known
from the BBC’s Dragons Den series.
10. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive
world.