FORMER Duffryn student Chris Taylor is ensuring his former school is the business after helping to sign them up to a highly regarded enterprise programme.

Chris, a director at financial business Kymin, based in Bridge Street, Newport, has invested time and effort to get Duffryn School involved in the Young Enterprise.

Chris, who is on the board of Newport and Monmouthshire Young Enterprise, was keen to see his former school take part in the programme.

Chris said: “Both Robin Hall, Kymin managing director, and myself are former pupils at Duffryn School. When we joined the board of the Young Enterprise, Newport and Monmouthshire, we were dismayed to discover that our former school hadn’t taken part in a YE programme for many years and we were determined, there and then, to see if we could get that situation changed.

“We’re both well aware of the enormous benefits young people get from being involved in Young Enterprise and wanted our old school to reap some these rewards benefits for their pupils.”

Chris got in contact with the school, and after meetings, some with James Rees, head of business, the school and eager pupils were signed up to the programme.

Chris said: “The response from the pupils has been so great that they had sixty wanting to join the programme. The school has now had to initiate an entry test to get that number down to a more manageable number between 12 and 20. I’ve offered to help them to achieve their aim.”

Kymin has also offered the use of its city centre boardroom and also to do presentations to years 9, 10 and 11 on the changes to the financial services industry as this is a topic the school students have been studying.

Young Enterprise is now allocating an experienced mentor from the local area to attend the school every two weeks. Chris says he will also be on hand for any extra support required.

Chris said: “I have told the school it is my ambition to help them compete with and beat some of the experienced private school entrants in the finals.”

He said: “I believe there has always been a bit of a weak link between schools and local businesses. Schools and Universities work closely together but University is not right for every pupil so why not improve the relationship with schools and local businesses.

“We have had two people working at Kymin that have come via Young Enterprise. Both have been fantastic individuals and have bright futures ahead of them. One is now going to Birmingham University this year. She received an un-conditional offer from the university based on her strong UCAS reference that included a work reference from Kymin. So that for me was proof that the Young Enterprise does work as she would never had contacted us if she hadn’t gone through a programme.”

Lynette Healey, Link Teacher at Duffryn High School said: “For many years Duffryn High School and in particular the business studies department, has continued to pursue ways in which we can collaborate effectively with the local community.

“The passion shown by Kymin and Chris Taylor for Young Enterprise has provided our students with the opportunity to unlock their entrepreneurial skills and bring the world of business to life. Our students have already undertaken their first board meeting and are looking forward to the number of challenges they will have throughout the year in setting up their own business.”