Dragons Den star Peter Jones declares Stevenage pupil winner of national competition

A TEENAGER has beaten hundreds of students nationwide by winning a business competition set up by a star of BBC1’s Dragons Den.

Eleanor Bullough from The Da Vinci Studio School in Stevenage has been crowned the Ultimate Tycoon in Schools after starting eco-friendly arts and craft shop Boo’s Bits and Bobs.

Tycoon in Schools, a nationwide campaign set up by TV dragon Peter Jones, was designed to encourage and inspire young people to get involved in enterprise and enable them to have a go at starting their own business.

The 14-year-old from Baldock decided to sell colourful paper garlands from a handmade mulberry paper, which comes from a renewable source.

Reacting to the news, she said: “This is awesome. I am so proud to find out that my business has won the Tycoon in Schools.

“It’s been a lot of work, but I have learned so much over the course of the competition and I am really grateful to have had this opportunity. I can’t wait to see what the future brings for Boo’s Bits and Bobs.”

Peter Jones said: “Eleanor has put her life and soul into the business over the past month and I’ve been enormously impressed by her efforts.

“It’s a unique idea, beautifully executed and her social media campaign was superb. The business idea is clearly sustainable and her idea of creating a product that is natural, organic and from a renewable source is bang on trend.

“Eleanor already has plans for her business going forward and is looking to buy a sewing machine and paper cutter, so by winning this competition and the �1000 of business investment, she will be able to make this dream a reality. I can’t wait to see where she is this time next year.”

Eleanor will now receive �1,000 of further investment from The Peter Jones Foundation to help fund her business.