Member Article

'Pre-loved pop-up shop’ part of Enterprise Week

A group of young people from Teesside are running their own pop-up retail business to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Stockton Sixth Form College is operating a funky ‘pre-loved’ pop up clothes shop from the Shambles Market Hall in Stockton town centre.

The pop-up shop is just one of a series of events being run throughout the week by Stockton Council to promote enterprise and entrepreneurship to people of all ages and backgrounds.

The youngsters will be tasked with finding clothes to sell, promoting the project as well as displaying the items for sale and setting up and running the pop up shop.

The students running the shop are part of Stockton Sixth Form College’s Social Enterprise team.

They put forward the idea as part of the Alan Shearer Foundation’s annual Young Social Entrepreneur competition, which sees schools and colleges go head-to-head to turn £100 seed money into the most profit for charity. Last year the competition raised over £18,000 for local disadvantaged children.

The pop-up shop is open 9am-5pm every day this week.

Councillor Mike Smith, Stockton Council’s cabinet member for Regeneration and Transport, said: “We want to foster entrepreneurial spirit in Stockton as early as possible to help new generations of youngsters boost their skills, be employable and improve opportunities for our residents to embrace self-employment.”

Alan Holborn, head of business at Stockton College, said: “It’s increasingly important for our students to learn business and leadership skills before they leave college and the Young Social Entrepreneur competition is a fantastic way to put those skills into practice.

“Not many students get the chance to say they ran a business as part of their extra-curricular activities at college, and we are especially proud that the students are so keen to make it a success.”

Anyone wishing to donate unwanted items suitable for the shop’s teenage audience, please contact the Stockton Sixth Form College on (01642) 612611.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .