GRAND FINAL
WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH 2024
8.45AM - 10.30AM
BOURNE HALL
SUPPORTED BY
Welcome –Mr Gus Lock, Executive Principal
As part of National Careers Week, we are delighted to welcome you to the Grand Final of Habs Dragons’ Den 2024. This biennial event, which first ran in 2016, is now an established fixture in the school calendar and has run in partnership with the Girls’ School since 2020.
B ack in the Autumn Term, students from Year 10 ( Middle 5) and Year 11 ( Upper 5 ) were invited to work in teams and submit a business idea. 21 teams entered the competition, out of which fourteen were selected to pitch to a panel of external ‘Dragons’ at one of three after-school heats held last half term. The top seven teams from across the heats progressed to the semi-final, in which they were asked about their business plans in more detail. Five teams have been selected to take part in today’s Grand Final.
The aim of this initiative has been to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and risk-taking amongst the pupils, as well as to help them develop
their presentation skills, creativity and ability to think on their feet. All participants attended workshops on pitching and presentation skills prior to the heats, and finalists have received further coaching and guidance prior to today’s Final.
P lease note, all ideas are hypothetical and no actual investments will be made today!
The competition has been organised in partnership with Khilan Dodhia and Rajesh Shah; both Old Haberdashers. We are extremely grateful to Khilan and Rajesh and their colleagues at Encore Capital for their support with this exciting event, as well as to all those who have supported the numerous heats and workshops in the run-up to today’s event.
Mr Gus Lock Executive Principal
Programme
8.50AM Welcome
MR GUS LOCK, EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL
9AM Introduction
HOSTED BY SONALI SHAH
Team 1: NanoHealers
RIAN (10C1), VIVAAN (10C2), MOKSH (10H1), KESHAV (10C1)
Team 2: UniPloy
VIVAAN (10M2), AARAV (10H2)
Team 3: VitalGuard Innovations
ISHANA (M5 ALPHA), AMAYA (M5 ALPHA), HIIRA (M5 ANSUZ)
Team 4: VertiGrow
AMAR (11R2), ISHAN (11H2), RIAN (11M1), LAKSH (11M1)
Team 5: TheWaitingRoom
AMAYAH (M5 ANSUZ), YANXI (M5 A), JESSIE (M5 AESC)
10.20AM
Presentation of winners’ trophy
10.25AM Closing address
EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL
10.40AM
Refreshments for finalists and visitors in the Old Refectory
11.30AM Close
3
Biographies
Host – Sonali Shah
Sonali will be starring in the latest series of BBC Two’s Pilgrimage, which returns to our screens later this month. A former Newsround presenter, she has been hosting BBC One’s Escape to the Country for 10 years, as well as major live events for the channel. She will be fronting their Commonwealth Day coverage next week. You can also hear Sonali Shah every Sunday morning on Magic radio from 7am-10am. Her children’s book The Best Diwali Ever is an Amazon best seller and she is on the judging panel for this year’s Inclusive Books for Children Awards. Sonali is a proud ambassador of the Prince’s Trust and the British Asian Trust and is taking part in a 25km charity trek through 7 Royal Parks in London on 9 March 2024.
Twitter/X: @SonaliShah
Instagram: @sonalishah
Dragon – Tim Campbell, MBE
Tim is a passionate and recognised advocate of talent and inclusion. With a focus on Education, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, he has established a ground-breaking charitable foundation, currently chairs an outstanding school board and regularly speaks on these topics at conferences and after dinner events internationally. This has led him to his most recent activity as Regional Head and Trading Futures Lead for OSTC Group, Africa; and Diversity and Inclusion strategic advisor for global talent acquisition company AMS. Tim is also advisor to Lord Alan Sugar on the BBC One show The Apprentice, sitting alongside Baroness Karren Brady.
Tim is an established and in-demand motivational speaker having spoken at various global events, hosted international conferences and represented the UK Government and the City of London on business delegations. Tim is a commercially aware, business savvy and conscientious leader with a record of adding value and successfully supporting the government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda having been a selected small business and social enterprise advisor.
Tim is married with two children and is a keen fitness enthusiast who is either running, cycling, lifting or trying to keep up with the next generation of Muay Thai boxers.
ORIGINS OF SCHOOL PRIZES
5
Biographies
Dragon – Harpreet Kaur
Harpreet Kaur is the winner of BBC Apprentice 2022 and co-founder of Oh So Yum desserts. She gained investment from Lord Sugar for the expansion of her dessert business, with millions of viewers watching. Oh So Yum currently runs from three stores, is stocked in Selfridges and also operates an e-commerce business delivering nationwide.
Harpreet aims to inspire others to achieve the best versions of themselves in their career or business. She made the leap from the corporate world of banking to running a seven-figure business today, and is launching her own coaching platform for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Our thanks go to:
Khilan Dodhia, Rajesh Shah and their colleagues at Encore Capital
Gemma Lyons – Chair of the Habs Boys’ Parent Guild
Emma Harvey – Seven Consultancy
Laura Rudoe – Evolve Organic Beauty
Ben Kaye – Well Fruited
Habs Dragons’ Den Sixth Form Committee members
Dragon – Sam Smith
Entrepreneur Sam Smith is the founder and former CEO of financial services group, finnCap (now Cavendish Financial). She was the first female chief executive of a City stockbroking firm and has worked on over 200 transactions, IPOs and secondary fundraisings.
Sam is now a Champion of Entrepreneurship and Inclusion in the UK and a Non-executive Director on a number of boards where culture is important – Solid State Plc, Sumer Group Ltd, 55 Redefined Ltd and Griffin Markets Ltd. Sam is also an Amazon Number 1 bestselling author of ‘The Secret Sauce - how to superscale your business and empower talent with empathetic leadership’.
Sam actively champions entrepreneurship for underrepresented groups including female-led businesses and is passionate about empowering young people and helping them develop essential life-skills. She is spearheading a campaign for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking to be integrated into the school curriculum. Sam is part of the Government Taskforce on Women-Led High Growth Enterprises, is also on the advisory board for Everywoman and the University of Bristol; and is Patron of The Entrepreneurs Network.
7