Young entrepreneurs were inspired to pursue their business goals after a visit by a bus burgeoning with successful money-makers and specialist mentors yesterday morning (October 24).

Barking and Dagenham College was the latest stop on a nationwide bus tour sponsored by the Gazelle Colleges Group, of which the college is a member, visitng 40 universities and further education colleges across the country.

Support and guidance on starting a business was handed out to college students from the specialist double-decker team, which included representatives from Dell, Intel, AXA and PayPal.

They were also given the opportunity to apply for a loan from the �82m StartUp Loans scheme for people aged 18 to 24, which was announced earlier this year.

Cathy Walsh, principal of both Barking and Dagenham College and the Gazelle group, said: “The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well at Barking and Dagenham College. We have lots of students who have the ambition and determination to start up their own businesses. We try to develop these capabilities in our students, encouraging them to create their own opportunities for work.

Explaining 50 per cent of Brits dream of starting their own business but only 5.8 per cent do, she added: “That’s an ambition gap we can and must close.”

StartUp Britain co-founder Emma Jones said: “We are seeing more and more young people setting up businesses. Research has shown eight out of ten young people think about setting up a business these days as a career path, or a way to turn a hobby into a money-spinning idea.”