YOUNGSTERS from York landed the top prizes in a regional Dragon’s Den-style young business contest.

Pupils from Archbishop Holgate’s CE School and York College students were crowned winners in the pre-16 and post-16 categories in the Griffins’ Nest contest, based on the TV show, after schools and colleges from across the region battled it out in the grand final of the competition.

More than 70 teams of 14 to 18-year-olds took part in the challenge with 20 teams selected for the final at York Racecourse.

NYBEP – the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership – challenged students from colleges and secondary schools to come up with a prototype of a product or service that could help or benefit their local community.

The Junior Job Centre team from Archbishop Holgate’s, with their idea to design a revolutionary service aimed at young people seeking employment, was the overall winner of the competition. York College students, with their idea of providing a facility to safely charge mobile phones in public areas, came a close second.

Each team received investment of £500 and £350 for their school or college.

Yvonne Emerson, partnership manager at NYBEP, said: “This competition was about getting students to think through business opportunities and to get an understanding of what is required to get an idea off the ground.

“With funding from the RBS Inspiring Youth Enterprise this has shown all these young people how exciting it is to work on an enterprise and also how enterprise can be used to deliver positive change.”

Fiona Hopkinson, of Archbishop Holgate’s, said: “The pupils have thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the initiative and we are very proud they won.

“Griffins’ Nest has encouraged the students to not only become more aware of their community, but has also helped them develop essential life and business skills, such as teamwork and leadership.”

Each school pitched their idea to a team of local business leaders and throughout the process had access to support from a business advisor recruited from the NYBEP Entrepreneur Exchange – a project that matches up budding entrepreneurs with established entrepreneurs and enterprising executives who have been there, done it and now want to share their knowledge and experience.

The contest was sponsored by the RBS Inspiring Youth Enterprise initiative which is aimed at helping students to start up and succeed in business.