Dragons’ Den star and Bebo founders put their faith - and cash - in UK’s budding young entrepreneurs!

The Make Your Mark campaign and entrepreneur Oli Barrett recently announced that they have secured the funding to run their innovative enterprise competition – Make Your Mark with a Tenner – again in 2009. 

The competition will be funded serial entrepreneur and BBC ‘Dragon’, Peter Jones, Michael & Xochi Birch, who recently sold Bebo to AOL for $850m, and NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts).

Twenty thousand young people will each be given a £10 loan and challenged to see what profit and social impact they can achieve in one month. Once the £10 loans have been returned, participants will be able to decide what to do with their profits –use them to develop their idea further, invest them in a good cause, or keep them.

Peter Jones, one of the competition’s funders, said: “We’re aiming to show young people that, by acting on an enterprising idea, it is possible to both make money and make a difference.  Quite rightly the next generation is becoming more and more interested in social and environmental issues, and we should tap into this energy, yet in today’s changed economic climate, we also need to remember that working hard to earn money yourself is also something that deserves recognition.”

Entrepreneur Oli Barrett, whose idea for loaning young people a tenner was the brainchild of the first competition in 2007, said: “When we first announced the idea, it was met with much scepticism.  People couldn’t believe that we were handing out £10 notes to young people, and questioned their ability to be trusted with the money – never mind to make a profit and reinvest it.  But, underestimate the younger generation at your peril… The largest profit was a massive 4100% and over half the young people gave money to a social or environmental cause.  It’s fantastic to see the competition back, bigger and better than ever!”

Benedict Arora, Programme Director of NESTA’s Future Innovators team, said: “The UK needs the energy, talent and entrepreneurial spirit of young people now more than ever. This is a fantastic opportunity for twenty thousand young people to show us just how much they can achieve.”

Make Your Mark Deputy CEO Scott Cain said, “With interest rates plummeting and the old investment certainties looking less sure footed, I’d bet my money – if I had any – on the UK’s young people giving a healthy return!”

In 2007 £93,000 of the original £100,000 loan fund was returned. The highest profit on £10 was £410 – an impressive 4100% increase in a month; an average profit (among the top 50) of £99.33 – a 993% increase; and the biggest team profit was £1000, based on five students clubbing together.

The resounding message from students and teachers alike was that everybody taking part had discovered something valuable about the world of enterprise. Delivering social purpose was a big theme. Half of the top 50 entries either specifically designed their ideas to benefit others or donated their profits, aiding good causes both at home and abroad.

For example, the Cathay Craftz business from Manchester Academy used the profits from their origami company to sponsor five students through secondary education at a South African partner school. Yidan Liu, one of the company’s directors said: “Cathay Craftz was fun because it was dead exciting and it gave us a chance to work with real businesses. We got some profit for ourselves but we also got to help students at a South African school, who don’t get the same opportunities as we do at Manchester Academy.”

To reflect the competitions social and economic aims, the announcement came on Social Enterprise Day, part of the first-ever Global Entrepreneurship Week (17 – 23 November), which will see hundreds of events, activities and competitions happening up and down the country all aimed at inspiring thousands young people to have ideas that make money and have a positive social or environmental impact too. Visit www.enterpriseweek.org.uk to find out more and see video interviews with social entrepreneurs.

The Make Your Mark with a Tenner competition will run during February 2009.  Young people will for the first time be able to enter from FE colleges and youth groups as well as schools. Interest in participating should be registered by teachers, tutors or youth leaders at www. makeyourmark.org.uk/tenner

Prizes will be awarded for individuals or teams with the most profit, the greatest social impact and for ventures in special categories including Sport and Online. For more information, visit: www.makeyourmark.org.uk/tenner or e-mail Amy@colmangetty.co.uk / Henry@colmangetty.co.uk