A TEAM of talented young entrepreneurs from Tavistock College have been selected to attend a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace for the final of ‘Tycoon in Schools’.

Launched by star of Dragons’ Den Peter Jones, Tycoon in Schools is a national enterprise competition, which challenges youngsters to set up their own businesses and raise as much profit as possible during a seven-week trading period.

Tyre Fires of Tavistock – the team of Ellesse Blackmore, Phoebe Sanders, Sophie Horn, Lauren Abel, Lauren Crick, Alice Kodritsch and Patrick Ahern (all aged 16) – will now attend a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace on March 14, where, out of eight finalists, the overall winners will be crowned by Mr Jones and HRH The Duke of York.

Team member Phoebe Sanders said: ‘It feels absolutely fantastic to see all the hard work and dedication paying off. As a team we are ecstatic and cannot wait for the ceremony at Buckingham Palace!’

The ambitious sixth form students sourced the rims for their fire pits from a respected local scrap yard, negotiating a reduced price for the raw materials needed for production.

They would then weld two rims together and cut a hole for the door using an angle grinder, before carrying out scrupulous quality checks.

Having developed the idea during a ‘blue-sky’ thinking session, the students marketed the business using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They also sold their products at various local events, including the Tavistock College Christmas Fair and 2015’s Tavistock Dickensian Evening.

The team made an impressive £1,327 profit during the trading phase. They were keen however to use some of this profit to provide support for a fellow student during a time of difficulty and donated £400.

A spokesperson for the college said this was an act typical of students in a co-operative school like Tavistock College.

Phoebe added: ‘When we were given the project brief we were all brainstorming as a team and tried to come up with ideas which utilised our resources. We wanted to do something that was eco friendly and environmentally friendly and we also wanted to have a sustainable edge. We started to research into the background of the fire industry.

‘We didn’t expect to get as far as we have, we were very hopeful but didn’t expect it and hope we can push it even further!

‘We are all very excited about meeting Peter Jones especially because he is such a successful entrepreneur and could teach us all so much. I’m hoping that he will see our product and understand our idea and what we were trying to do. We can’t wait to go to Buckingham Palace either – it’s not somewhere people get invited very often!

‘Currently we are discussing within our team the plans for the rest of the year but hope to continue trading as a sustainable business. We are all trying to make a decision together about what to do in the future and decide whether it would be worthwhile for us to carry on – we are very invested in it.

‘Normally around 900 teams take part I think from around 400 schools – so to be in the final eight means a lot, especially because we are a state school. It is not something anyone in the team could have ever imagined and we are very proud – we want to make other state schools proud too.’

Tavistock College Principal Sarah Jones said: ‘I am delighted that Tyre Fires of Tavistock has reached the final stage of this prestigious competition. The students have worked hard and using their own ideas, resources and initiative, have set up an amazingly successful enterprise.

‘I am especially proud of their support for each other and the fact that they chose to donate a significant amount of their profits to improve the life of one of their fellow students at Tavistock College who is facing personal challenges at this time.’

Sarah Holt, head of humanities and business studies teacher, said how incredibly proud Tavistock College was of the team’s achievements, especially their ‘passion for their business and determination to succeed’.

Head of education for the Peter Jones Foundation Helen Beardmore told the Times: ‘They’ve been so impressive throughout the competition. Their fire pits clearly take a lot of work and it’s testament to their ambition and dedication that they’ve managed to make so much profit.

‘We’ve enjoyed following their progress and we really hope they continue with the business beyond the close of the competition.’

A spokesperson for the Peter Jones Foundation said: ‘We are extremely proud of the achievements of this year’s finalists and congratulate them on making it this far. The number of truly exciting and sustainable businesses launched has been extraordinary and picking which of these should go through was not easy.

‘This competition has been our most successful to date and following the team’s progress has been fantastic. We’re now looking forward to meeting all these bright young entrepreneurs at Buckingham Palace in March.’

Tycoon in Schools challenges youngsters to set up their own real-life businesses using a loan of up to £1,000 provided by the Peter Jones Foundation. They then raise as much profit as possible during a seven-week trading period.

Once trading is over, teams submit detailed evaluation reports to Mr Jones, who picks the winners from each key stage category as well as one overall champion. Winners are then revealed at a final ceremony, which has been held at Buckingham Palace each year since the competition began in 2012.

As well as Tycoon in Schools, the Peter Jones Foundation runs the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, which delivers courses in enterprise and entrepreneurship at colleges across the country. The foundation is supported by a range of corporate partners and patrons in its mission to educate, encourage and support a brand new generation of entrepreneurs.