with 55,000 other pupils across the UK. What made this Challenge different was that they had experts from the Business School on hand to encourage their ideas. Dr Lorna Collins, the NCGE's Director of Flying Start, and Harry Rich, Chief Executive of Make Your Mark, were on hand to mark the launch of this first event bringing schoolchildren into universities for the national Challenge: to create an entrepreneurial idea based on seven Olympic and Paralympic values. Since London Met is the capital's leading university for sports and is closely involved in preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, the Vice-Chancellor, Brian Roper, offered an additional prize for the Challenge to support the development of the best Olympics focused business idea. After a show of creative energy in their initial brainstorming session, the students got to meet one of the country's leading entrepreneurs. Lord Bilimoria asked first how many in the room wanted to start a business. At least half put their hands up. "The most important thing you need to start a business," he said, "is to really want to start it." He also tackled the old-fashioned view that university is irrelevant to entrepreneurs. "The purpose of the NCGE, for which I am the National Champion," said Lord Bilimoria, "is to encourage all students from any university background to start a business." He's proud to have persuaded famous entrepreneurs who said education isn't necessary to change their minds. When he asked how many of the school and college students intended to