THE Duke of York has visited the North-East to speak with students taking part in the nationwide enterprise competition Tycoon in Schools.

Addressing teams at the recently opened Studio West School, in Newcastle, Prince Andrew stressed the importance of learning about entrepreneurship at a young age.

“It’s giving you the opportunity to think about becoming an entrepreneur and being at the forefront of this sort of thing that is going to change the future of the economy in this country,” he said.

“It’s very interesting to see not only the thought that you have put into your ideas, but how you have come together, as it were, and worked as a team. So I’d just like to say congratulations. I wish you all every success and hopefully we will see some of you at the prize giving in February.”

Launched by star of Dragons’ Den Peter Jones CBE and run by the Peter Jones Foundation – of which The Duke is a patron – Tycoon in Schools is part of Mr Jones’s ambition to put enterprise at the heart of UK education.

Students across the country are challenged to develop and execute successful business plans, competing against one another to raise the most profits possible and gaining valuable hands-on experience in the process.

The projects on show at Studio West included an art-inspired cake company, a community cafe, a gourmet popcorn business and a skin care and cosmetics range, among others.

The competition is currently at the trading stage, which opened on November 3rd and will close on December 19th. Teams are then expected to submit an evaluation report to a judging panel, which will include the dragon himself, before the winners are announced in February.

The overall winners will receive £1000 of investment prize money, which in previous years has been awarded in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.