Winner: ScratchMyPi

Finalists: UGOT, All Terrain Cycles

A BUSINESS which is helping teachers and children learn computing skills has been named New Business of the Year.

Judges said this was such a difficult category since the finalist businesses were “so diverse in what they do, their business journey and the financial aspects are all completely different”.

However, they were ultimately impressed by the innovative approach taken by ScratchMyPi founder Robyn Duckworth in response to the schools including computer coding as a key part of the curriculum.

Judges described Robyn’s enthusiasm as infectious, and said her ideas were well thought through and she was realistic about limits on her time. There was a good business understanding and an idea to perhaps franchise the business in the future.

Robyn is a former primary school teacher who started the company after realising there was a gap in the market she could fill in response to an increasing demand for children to learn programming basics from an early age as the new national curriculum published in 2013 introduced programming lessons for five-year-olds. Since it was founded in March 2014, ScatchMyPi has run 15 programming courses for teachers across the northern region, and won a contract to deliver computing at Barmby on the Marsh Primary School.

ScratchMyPi also runs a weekend computer club and holiday workshops for children as young as eight to learn computing-related electronics through fun activities such as developing robots, joystick games and burglar alarms. Robyn, who runs the business from The Reeves in York, hopes to get another school contract in the future, and to develop methods for making computing and electronics easier in primary schools. She is setting up another electronics club in the Goole area and a harder programming club.