An entrepreneur who appeared in the first two series of television show Dragon's Den has been dishing out business advice to students in Norwich.

As part of the School for Startups programme its founder, Doug Richard, spoke with students this afternoon (Wednesday) about how to start a successful business when he visited City College Norwich's StartUp Lounge.

More than 200 students went to the interactive workshops, where Mr Richard shared his experience and knowledge through storytelling. Mr Richard has 20 years' experience in the development and leadership of technology.

He said: '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.'

The workshops were designed to provided students with the tools needed to find out whether an idea can be a business and also to show how enterprise skills can be used to get a job or start a business.

Students were also invited to talk about and discuss their own enterprises and business plans with Mr Richard.

Business retail student Callum Gibson, 16, of Norwich, pitched his electronics business - GadgetGameRoom - to the former dragon.

He said: 'It was really great. I felt an amount of pressure speaking to someone with so much experience but I'm proud of how well it went. Doug's feedback was understandable and reasonable and I'll be taking it on board.'

Acting student Alexander Scott, 17, of Long Stratton, outlined his idea for a vegetarian and vegan restaurant.

He said: 'It was really interesting listening to other people's ideas and what Doug thought of them and his suggestions for improvement. It was really good to have his feedback. I personally will be taking on board what I've learnt today to pursue my restaurant idea.'

Today's workshops were organised as part of the Entrepreneurs and Education Programme, sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and delivered in partnership with the School for Startups, NCEE, Vitae, Gazelle and NACUE.

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