School offers free office space in return for teaching students about enterprise

Julian Simmonds:

The idea is the brainchild of Sean Hickey, head of business and enterprise at the new Milton Keynes Academy, which has just opened its doors to over 1,200 11-to-18 year-olds.

The academy, which is sponsored by the Edge education foundation, has offered the Bristows free office space in return for four hours a week working with the students on projects and mentoring. The brother and sister team pay for their phone bills but everything else - including business rates - is covered by the school.

Mr Bristow, 35, said: "The initial attraction was the free office space. That drew us in but when we looked into it and went through the interview process we knew there would be some sort of trade off. We learnt what we would have to give back to the school and that actually made it more attractive. They want it to be quite informal. There's not a set agenda. It's how can we help and get involved, mentoring small groups and setting small projects."

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 16, 2009 2:13 AM
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