Civil engineering firm UCS Civils, the engineering contracting arm of Rand Group, a £40 million turnover group of construction companies based at Rand in Lincolnshire, has been helping to develop young entrepreneurs of the future by taking part in the LionHeart Challenge at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Teams of ten Year 10 pupils from schools from across the North-East & Yorkshire Region competed in the LionHeart Challenge Regional Heat on Tuesday (7th July) in the hope of going through to the national finals at St George's Hall in Liverpool on Monday 13th July.

UCS Civils' Business Development Director Steve Barker was on the panel of expert help advisors who worked with the teams throughout the day, sharing their knowledge and expertise and advising the youngsters on a range of key business disciplines such as finance, product design and marketing. Steve was one of several Chartered Institute of Marketing members providing their services for free on the day.

The theme of the challenge - fire safety - was kept under wraps until the starting whistle and teams had one working day to conceptualise, design and create an innovative product or service to promote fire safety with commercial or economic potential.

They had to compile a mini-business plan, produce a PowerPoint presentation, provide a 'virtual' IT mock-up which communicated their idea and give a formal three-minute presentation to a panel of regional judges in front of an audience. 

The north-east regional winners were from Sacred Heart High School in Newcastle-upon- Tyne while the winning team from the Yorkshire region was from Salendine Nook High School in Huddersfield.

The LionHeart Challenge Programme is aimed at developing in school pupils the key skills and techniques required to start up their own business or to become highly valued, enterprising employees. 

It is hoped that while taking part in LionHeart, pupils from all different backgrounds and abilities will develop skills in teamwork, marketing, leadership, problem solving and public speaking.

Steve said: "It's the first time I've been involved with the LionHeart Challenge and I was really impressed by the enthusiasm of the children and their ability to learn new skills and apply them to the task in hand in a relatively short space of time.

"The programme opens their eyes to the opportunities which exist in the world of business and gives them the confidence and self-belief needed to succeed. I wish the winning team every success in the national finals in Liverpool and in their future careers."