Haberdashers’ Knights Academy Win the Livery Academy Awards (First Heat)

One of our favourite events of the year, the Livery Academy Awards First Heat took place at Haberdashers’ Hall on Monday 12^th December.

The competition, which started in 2013 and sponsored by the City of London Mayor, is designed to develop entrepreneurial and presentation skills among sixth-form students.

In a remarkable event at the Hall, students from across our secondary schools, along with fellow Haberdashers’ academies in Shropshire, came together to compete.

The theme this year was "Financing the Future". The teams of sixth formers from our academies pitched investors to raise up to £500,000 (imaginary) to create a youth-based business or investment product that would support a sustainable future. 

 School teams were mentored by experts from the Haberdashers’ Company and worked with the Speaker’s Trust to develop their idea, presentation skills and pitch.

The quality of all presentations on the night was incredibly high and the audience, and judges, were left with the difficult decision as to which school would go on to represent all the Haberdashers’ schools at the national Final at the City Lord Mayor’s HQ, Mansion House, in January.

Haberdashers’ Crayford Academy and Haberdashers’ Hatcham College delivered outstanding presentations with fantastic concepts for their business including Vertex: an augmented reality driven careers work experience and Creative Corners: a cultural community driven youth based product. However, Haberdashers’ Knights Academy hit the brief with their business FinLite: a financial literacy product for young people and youth offenders.

The winning team was formed of sixth formers; Benedict Tongbin, Mellisa, Bilal, Idris, Miriam and Kyan. The team was led by Mr Merry, Head of Business & Economics at Knights Academy and supported by Haberdasher mentors, Olly Norgrove and Jonny Stretfeild.

Knights Academy will represent the Trust and all Haberdashers’ schools when they compete with other Livery Academies such as the Merchant Taylors Academy, Drapers Academy and Grocers Academy.

We wish them the best of luck in January. Watch this space!