Theo judges at the Ryman National Enterprise Challenge at Wembley

Judge Theo Paphitis Impressed By Student Business Strategies at Ryman National Enterprise Challenge

In the sixth year of the Ryman National Enterprise Challenge, the standards exceeded themselves once again with some confident pitches from Key Stage 3 (11-13 year olds) and Key Stage 4 (13-15 year olds) across the afternoon, at the iconic event location of Wembley Stadium.

Judges included Theo Paphitis, Ryman ecommerce and Marketing Director Paul McDermott, UCFB Chairman, Brendan Flood, Roisin Wood CEO Kick It Out and Professor Ieuan Ellis, Pro Vice Chancellor Staffordshire University.

Over 1,200 students and teachers turned up to compete throughout the day and 10 teams went through to present to the judges with the challenges to create a mascot or team of mascots for Ryman, and to create an event or initiative to encourage female football participation.

The competition was fierce with some unbelievable presentations and strong ideas, but the winners were:

The Key stage 3 school winners were:

Newport Girls' High with their mascot ‘Ray the Fox"’

They were invited to the Ryman Head Office to meet the team and discuss their idea.

The runners up were New Hall School in Chelmsford - whose idea 'Ozzy the Owl' also turned heads. Theo also invited them to the office to meet the team and discuss their idea further too.

The key stage 4 school winners were:

Chesham Grammar School for their idea: Girls Get Goals

Theo said: “As ever the standards were so high that it was hard to pick a winner, but they should all be very proud of themselves for the hard work, passion and knowledge they demonstrated in their ideas and delivery.”

July 10th 2019