May 18, 2008 7:50pm
AntonZ Says:

Clearly this is not a PR stunt. I read Peter Jones' book "Tycoon" several months ago in which he said he had a long ambition to start this academy.

April 18, 2008 12:59pm
Karen Says:

Yes, excellent!! BUT...will the funding actually reach the students all will it as always get used up on over paid consultants, research and bike sheds! I teach enterprise as an independent organisation and we get NO funding for enterprise education and only the schools with good leadership are prepared their enterprise standards funding on their students

March 12, 2008 5:52pm
David Sullivan Says:

Well done Peter and all involved in building this genius concept! A breath of fresh air! I would love to pass on some of my business experiences, shame it wasn't Pioneered 10 years ago, we would be bearing the fruits of its success today otherwise! where do I sign up? Chairman www.frooition.com

March 12, 2008 8:24am
Louis Berk Says:

I'm surprised at the negative spin on this news story. I am the Head of Business Studies at Swanlea School which hosted the launch visit by Peter Jones and Gordon Brown, yesterday. I worked in industry for 25 years before becoming a Business Studies teacher and that included starting several small enterprises. As I repeatedly tell my students, "you are lucky, I worked for 25 years in industry and I don't think anyone ever taught me the basics of business, the way you will learn by taking a Business Studies at GCSE". The fact is, British business professionals are still woefully uneducated in the most basic business matters which when you think about it may contribute to the high level of business failures amongst start-ups. Our students undertake a three-year program of enterprise studies between Year 7 and 9, then they may choose between Business Studies or ICT for GCSE. They are the lucky one because as a specialist school in Business and Enterprise we receive additional funding which allows us to provide this level of education. I fail to see how starting a specialist academy, regardless of its parentage or patronage, can be anything other than a benefit to the students who will study there.

March 11, 2008 4:29pm
Rachel Elnaugh Says:

I think it is a great initiative; one step in a much longer journey but at least we are going in the right direction. Congratulations to Peter for having the vision to pioneer it.

March 11, 2008 4:24pm
Eric White Says:

Hi there, I work with Peter Jones and have been heavily involved with the National Enterprise Academy plan, which has been a long-held dream of Peter's for several years, certainly for as long as I have known him (which is a long time). Firstly, I would like to thank you for raising the profile of the Academy through Real Business. It is definitely a proposal worth supporting - but we really welcome feedback and views from the wider business community, so please let us know what you think. I just wanted to clarify that the Academy is not actually based on the Brit School as mentioned in your write up. If we have a benchmark at all it is really Sir Philip Green's Fashion Retail Academy in London. This is an amazing learning facility which paved the way for the Government's National Skills Academy programme - which we hope to become part of ourselves with the National Enterprise Academy. Peter's vision is to bring real working entrepreneurs into an education environment for the first time - which sets it apart from other enterprise learning initiatives. In this way, its students will know they are being guided and taught by people who have actually been there, seen it and done it. We hope this will create a powerful and stimulating learning environment which will breed confidence and self belief as well as a recognised qualification and encourage many more successful entrepreneurs in the UK. Although this is a personal mission of Peter's, it is not something he is doing totally on his own. He has as you have pointed out won support from Government as part of its new Enterprise Strategy. But he will also involve other entrepreneurs, all types of businesses large and small, education partners and business support organisations. This is very much a collaborative project - and over the next few weeks and months, as the plans begin to take shape, you can expect more announcements setting out exactly who will be lending their support to the National Enterprise Academy. With best regards, Eric White, Director PJ Investments