A team of budding entrepreneurs from a Norfolk primary school are celebrating national success after a royal visit saw them meet a star of Dragon's Den.
Five pupils from Ludham Primary School, near Great Yarmouth, have been named as runners up in the Tycoon in Schools enterprise competition run by Peter Jones.
The youngsters went to Buckingham Palace for the competition's awards ceremony in recognition of their efforts in making bird feeders.
Called Birdie Brunch, Callum Cruikshank, 10, Bradley Lendrum, nine, Nicholas Elliot, nine, Maggie Hewitt, eight, and Mai Anh Purnel received £48 as a start-up loan from the Peter Jones Foundation in October.
They invested the money to create and sell hand-made, sustainable bird-feeders as Christmas gifts.
Their aim was to create an environmentally-friendly product that would help to nourish and protect birds from the cold winter.
The team had a final profit ratio of 637pc, leading to them being named as runners up in the Key Stage 1 and Key 2 section.
The ceremony was hosted by The Duke of York, patron of the Peter Jones Foundation.
Mr Jones said: 'It is always such a great honour to crown the winners of Tycoon in Schools at Buckingham Palace alongside HRH The Duke of York, KG, Patron of the Peter Jones Foundation.
'This year, we officially opened up the competition to primary schools, and it was incredibly exciting to meet some of our youngest tycoons to date.
'Every year we see an incredibly high standard of business ideas come to fruition – and this year has been no exception. I have been bowled over by the achievements of all the students throughout the competition, and it has certainly been the most successful Tycoon in Schools yet.'
Heather Delf, headteacher at Ludham Primary, said: 'Our pupils have had a fantastic time starting their own business with Tycoon in Schools, and it was great to be amongst the first primary schools to take part this year.
'We're so proud that our pupils are Key Stage 1 and 2 runners up – it really is testament to their hard work over the last few months.'
Tycoons in Schools was launched in 2012. To sign up to next year's Tycoon in Schools visit www.tycooninschools.com
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