Folkestone Entrepreneur Prepares to Give Pitch of a Lifetime to TV Dragon

A talented young entrepreneur from @EKCFolkestone – has earnt the chance to pitch their business to @dragonjones – BBC Dragon’s Den star, Peter Jones CBE, to secure a £5,000 investment. 

Level 3 Enterprise and Entrepreneurship student, Megan Parfitt, is one of only five students nationally to make it through to the final of the ‘Peter Jones Foundation National Entrepreneur of the Year’ competition.  

Inspired by her nine-year-old sister, Megan’s business, ‘Eat Your Dinner Trivia’, aims to encourage young children to eat their fruit and vegetables by playing a fun trivia game. The children are challenged to answer school curriculum and general knowledge questions. If they answer a question correctly, they earn a ‘treat’ that is decided by the reward cards. If they answer a question incorrectly, they must eat a portion of fruit or vegetables. 

“I have three main aims for my business,” explained Megan: “One, to encourage kids to eat their fruit and vegetables in their lunch and dinner. Two, to build kids’ knowledge in school subjects such as the core subjects, maths and English. And three, to build kids’ general knowledge. 

“I think that playing this game with children will become a fun way of getting kids to eat their fruit and vegetables.” 

During the final, Megan will pitch her business in a bid to impress Peter Jones CBE and a panel of esteemed business people.   

Talking about the final, Peter Jones CBE commented: “I’m really looking forward to meeting our five finalists in person. I strongly believe that this country needs entrepreneurial young people more than ever, it is this generation that will incite positive social change and push forward the economy for years to come.” 

He added: “The quality of submissions we’ve received for this year’s award has been absolutely outstanding and picking just five to go through was a real challenge. 

“The high standard is testament to the depth of entrepreneurial talent that we have across the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy network.” 

Megan was one of two Folkestone College students to make it through to the semi-finals of the Competition. She wowed the judges with her virtual pitch on Thursday 11 June, with the judges noting: “Megan exudes entrepreneurial flair and her business has a real social purpose to it. It is certainly scalable and has excellent eye-catching branding.” 

Details about the final will be released in early July.  

Folkestone College is one of only 21 Peter Jones Enterprise Academies (PJEA) in the UK. The Peter Jones Enterprise Academy is a flagship programme by the Peter Jones Foundation which aims to ‘bring the boardroom into the classroom’ and equip students with the skills, knowledge and experiences needed to succeed in their chosen careers.