Financial board game wins 2nd place in national business competition final - 3/3/10

Published: 03 March, 2010

Plymouth College sixth formers, Jess Evans and Sarah Marchant, both 18, have clinched the runners up spot and £1000 in the national final of the 'Breaking the Mould' Apprentice Challenge.

Open to girls only, entrants had to design an electronic or board game that could be used in the classroom to teach the basics of personal finance.  It had to include elements of the IFS School of Finance level 1, 2 and 3 qualifications and had to have the potential for mass production at a feasible purchase price for schools.

One of four teams selected for the national final, the Plymouth girls' board game 'Financial Footprints' follows the format of a traditional board game and sees players answering questions on financial products to progress the game.  The girls also produced a business plan and made a 10-minute video presentation showing how the game works.

The Apprentice Challenge final was held during the 'Breaking the Mould' conference in London, an event showcasing inspirational women in business.  The competition was judged by stars of the BBC's 'The Apprentice'.

"We worked really hard on our board game and so we were delighted to be runners up", said Jess.  "The Breaking the Mould conference was really interesting and it was great to meet people like Margaret Mountford, Saira Khan and Tim Campbell". 

Both Jess and Sarah were part of the Plymouth College team that won the national 'Make Your Mark' business competition in December, and Jess was Deputy Managing Director of Affinity, the Plymouth College company that won the national Young Enterprise competition last year.