Dragons’ Den star helps light a fire under Barking and Dagenham College students’ business dreams
From leftt: Ardian Toski, James Dobson, Charles Simpole, Christopher Ball, former 'Dragon' Doug Richard, college principal Cathy Walsh, Liam Rogers, Charlie Thompson, Shane McCusker, Kristian Baycroft and Nikin Kamothi. - Credit: Archant
Hundreds of students queued up to hear words of wisdom from original Dragons’ Den star Doug Richard.
The entrepreneur, who joined Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Simon Woodroffe and Rachel Elnaugh on the hit BBC TV show in its first two series, hosted two workshops for students at Barking and Dagenham College.
More than 300 of them turned up on Thursday, September 5, to hear him talk about the tools they needed to assess business ideas and how to unlock their entrepreneurial spirit.
“The UK needs entrepreneurs now more than ever, and we have to start tapping into the abundance of innovative talent that British universities and colleges have, and help them to unleash their entrepreneurial potential.
“There are so many brilliant people out there who can be part of Britain’s entrepreneurial future,” said Mr Richard.
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The talks came as part of the Entrepreneurs and Education Programme, which is sponsored by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills along with the School for Startups organisation, of which Doug is a founder.
College principal Cathy Walsh said helping with entrepreneurial ideas is something that the college believes passionately in.
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Everyone who attended has been invited to take part in a free ‘bootcamp’ next year designed as a follow-up to the workshops, which will allow students to explore their options in more depth.
