Clifton College’s Young Entrepreneurs Face the ‘Sharks’ in Pupil-led Business Challenge

The next generation of business leaders took centre stage in the Prep Hall recently, as Clifton College hosted a pupil-led Dragon’s Den-style enterprise competition. The event highlighted the initiative of our pupils, having been planned and organised by Alec, a Year 12 student. 

The competition began with twelve teams each developing a unique business concept. After a rigorous selection process, the field was whittled down to five final teams who earned the right to pitch live before a panel of ‘Sharks’ made up of accomplished Old Cliftonians and parents. 

Our finalists needed to present their commercial ideas, financial projections and marketing strategies to our industry experts, who generously gave their time and invaluable advice to guide these young entrepreneurs. Our sharks were:

Chris Hunt (NT 1972)

A highly decorated film and TV producer/director with four Emmys and seven BAFTA nominations to his name, Chris is no stranger to high-stakes pitching. He has run multiple investment funds, received UK Government backing for virtual reality innovations, and even once declined a pitch from Dragon’s Den’s own Peter Jones. Chris served the College as a Governor is a former member of Council. 

Julian Telling (WaH 1979)

After being educated at the College, Julian founded a financial services company that he successfully guided to a stock market listing in 2005. Today, he is an active angel investor and Director of Bristol Private Equity, and serves on numerous PLC boards. 

Karen Pickles

Karen brought a unique blend of creative and commercial expertise to the panel, she spent 25 years teaching at Clifton College before launching her own highly successful education compliance consultancy. She has founded and directed four award-winning companies across retail and education, and acts as an ISI inspector and strategic trustee.

Mark Mason

Mark is a prominent Bristol-based entrepreneur, investor and venture builder who has successfully founded and sold several digital and technology consultancies. He is a founder director of the Bristol Private Equity Club, which has raised over £15m for local start-ups. 

Giles Watkins

Giles has an international corporate career, having lived in seven countries and worked in 70, primarily in senior leadership roles for Shell and McKinsey & Co. Now an executive coach and author of the acclaimed Positive Sleep, Giles brought his profound understanding of business transformation, leadership and commercial strategy to the panel. 

The five student enterprises that reached the final showcased an impressive breadth of global thinking. The audience and judges were treated to pitches from Kin&Co., a web platform designed to help families find trusted, short-term child and pet care solutions, and Medicare, a streamlined digital app aiming to simplify and speed up the process of booking appointments with private doctors. Turning to sustainability, Ecosort presented a unique design for recycling waste bins, specifically created with the goal of building a proactive recycling culture in Nigeria. School operations were also tackled by UniFFind, a smart, QR-code-based system designed to revolutionise how schools, students, and staff communicate to reunite lost property with its owners.

Ultimately, it was the team behind Find & Fund who walked away as the overall winners of the competition. Their winning pitch detailed a highly practical app that empowers school and university students to easily navigate, find, and secure the right scholarships and bursaries for their educational journeys.

The event proved to be an overwhelming success, showcasing not only the commercial minds of our finalists but also the community spirit with our parents and alumni. 

Karen Pickles said, “The Clifton Den event was superbly led by a Year 12 pupil who inspired others to present their business ideas. These were innovative, entrepreneurial and well researched, with confident, engaging delivery throughout. A fantastic initiative, which was well supported by Clifton College staff, with real potential to grow and strengthen in future years."

With the invaluable feedback from our panel, these five finalists end the competition with business advice and increased confidence in their ability to become innovators and leaders of tomorrow. 

Clifton College would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to our panel of Sharks for their time, encouragement and advice to our pupils.