Inviation to enter Dragon's Lair

The dragons are back in their lair and this year they mean business, as 63 North Lanarkshire pupils discovered.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Oct 2016, 16:46 GMT
Updated 25th Oct 2016, 14:36 GMT
Dragons (front, l-r) Sara Budge, Danny Murphy and Joanne Telfer with (back, l-r) Business Gateways Graeme Currie and Liz McCutcheon and Councillor Allan Graham.Dragons (front, l-r) Sara Budge, Danny Murphy and Joanne Telfer with (back, l-r) Business Gateways Graeme Currie and Liz McCutcheon and Councillor Allan Graham.
Dragons (front, l-r) Sara Budge, Danny Murphy and Joanne Telfer with (back, l-r) Business Gateways Graeme Currie and Liz McCutcheon and Councillor Allan Graham.

The third year students from 15 North Lanarkshire secondary schools, including Brannock High, Dalziel High and Cardinal Newman High, are bidding to win the prestigious Dragon’s Lair award for their business innovation, planning and marketing.

The competition, now in its fifth year, was launched at Business Gateway’s Atrium Business Centre in Coatbridge with an information day.

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Pupils were aided by Business Gateway advisers as they began to formulate their ideas, inventions and potential business opportunities to draw up their business plans.

They also met this year’s dragons: Denise Canning of 121 HR Solutions, Joanne Telfer of Ten Live Group, Sara Budge of Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB), Danny Murphy of Gordon Ferguson & Co and Scott Webb of UK Steel Enterprise (UKSE).

Ms Budge said: “I am delighted to be invited to be a dragon and take part in Dragon’s Lair.

“There are so many important parts in having a successful business and hopefully the experience will help these pupils find future careers or become employers in their own right.”

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The pupils will now submit their business plans, with the best six being invited to the final on November 16 where they will pitch their ideas to directly to the dragons.

North Lanarkshire Council’s convener of Regeneration, Councillor Allan Graham, said: “To have so many pupils, all eager to learn the basics of business, speaks volumes for the entrepreneurial spirit we have in North Lanarkshire.”

This year’s Dragons’ Lair is sponsored by UKSE and DSSB.