OUR IMPACT

David is a graduate from Amersham College Peter Jones Enterprise Academy (PJEA) and former winner of National Entrepreneur of the Year. Since winning the competition in 2014, he has grown the business he founded whilst studying at the PJEA, ViewPoint Videos, into a hugely successful enterprise with a muti million-pound valuation. Viewpoint gives theme parks and experiences companies the technology to offer their visitors a video souvenir of their activity and currently operates in over 110 locations worldwide. In 2022, David generously paid forward the £5,000 investment awarded to him back in 2014 to provide the capital for that year’s National Entrepreneur of the Year winner.

Priscilla Israel attended the PJEA at Amersham and took part in National Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2012. During her time at the PJEA she designed an app as her business model and took part in national challenges held by firms such as Virgin Pioneers.

After graduating University she founded STICKY, a business that make tasks like check in, ordering food/drink and safety inspections as quick and simple as a contactless payment. In 2020, STICKY received £325k in Pre-seed Funding.

In recent years, STICKY has gone from strength to strength. In 2023 they raised £1.5m seed stage with the story receiving coverage on Sky News.

Since graduating from the PJEA Emma has gone on to study Marketing and Management at the University of Sussex. Alongside her studies, Emma runs her business and blog, Vanity Decay, which she set up during her time on the course. The idea for Vanity Decay came to Emma when she spotted a gap in the market for makeup storage.

Emma said: “I’ve always had an entrepreneurial instinct and I chose the PJEA to expand on this. It’s definitely allowed me to pitch in situations that I wouldn’t have been able to before and studying at the Academy has allowed me to bring so many aspects together – like accounting and marketing – to improve on the skills that I already had to actually start a business.”

Since graduating, Rishi has pursued a career in property. In 2022 he started his own estate agency business, White House Estates & Finance.

Rishi’s company values itself on being a serviced based agent offering sales, lettings, and property management. Rishi is passionate about his clients being at the forefront of every move he is excited to make an impact on the property market in his area.

The PJEA academy at Leicester College gave me an unbelievable platform to begin my professionally journey, whilst encouraging my ambitious and entrepreneurial traits. The teachers and mentors were fantastic and so supportive - I cannot thank them enough!

After graduating, Ross spotted an opportunity during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee to open a pop-up shop on Carnaby Street selling rebellious t-shirts of the Queen. Today, Appear Here, has offices in three cities worldwide, has over 100,000 global brands, retailers and creative entrepreneurs signed up to use the service. An impressive range of brands have used the spaces, including, Apple, Nike, Made and Spotify.

Ross said: “The practical element of the PJEA was important to me. One thing I took from the Academy, which has impacted my life greatly, was how to spot an opportunity and then focus on it – staying true to what the brand is about and not overcomplicating things with diversions.”

Katie has been campaigning to raise awareness of mental health since she was just 17. During her time at the PJEA she set up Altruist Enterprises, a company that provides training courses to organisations and schools to help them prevent and identify stress in the workplace and offer the correct support to those affected. Since graduating, Katie has won various awards from the New Entrepreneurs Foundation, Entrepreneurial Spark’s and the Birmingham Mail and also worked closely with organisations such as Young Minds, Time to Change and NAHT.

Katie said: “My time at the PJEA taught me that anything is possible. It gave me the confidence to pursue my passion and start a business.”

Since graduating from the PJEA, Lorenzo founded Brick Digital, a company that specialises in helping small-medium sized businesses make waves online through SEO, Digital PR, and Pay-Per-Click advertising.

Lorenzo said: “The PJEA was the driving force behind me starting my own business, so it did more than impact my decision. The PJEA exposed me to the fact that it was possible to start and run a business, and this exposure came from so many people who had done so and were at different stages. So that had a big impact on my own self-belief and the skills that I learnt whilst at the PJEA gave me the confidence to know that I was as ready as anyone really could be at that age to start a business.”

Simone is the Founder of Salamander Taekwondo. She was a competitive athlete who has turned her passion for the sport into a business venture. Simone uses her passion for sport to inspire others to get involved in physical activity.

With multiple locations across the North East, Salamander Taekwondo now operates in Tow Law, Spennymoor and at Newcastle University. Simone wants to use Taekwondo to tackle the rising levels of obesity within her community and offer a service that allow others to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. They provide Traditional Taekwondo, Olympic Style Sport Taekwondo and General Fitness classes.

Jacob Knowles graduated from his PJEA with a Dual distinction * in BTEC Level 3 in 2013. After graduating, Jacob went straight into business and felt that his time in the PJEA had provided him with the practical enterprise skills required to do so. He is now the Business Director of Empine Print, a company that works with clients both within the UK and internationally, to deliver high quality print solutions across three main categories: Empine Educational Print, Empine Commercial Print and Empine Print Management.

Jacob said: “When I came across the PJEA, I was attracted to the fact that the course was designed around setting up a business and regardless of whether you take that forward, the experience of doing it is invaluable.