SWINDON North’s MP, Justin Tomlinson, has led his own Parliamentary debate on encouraging young entrepreneurs.

In his speech, Mr Tomlinson, who set up his own business as a young person, mentioned the New College Young Enterprise scheme, which aims to give students a real taste of life in the business world.

This year, he has arranged for each team to be given a free pitch for three days at the Blunsdon Indoor Market, where they will have to research to find a suitable gap in the market and sell their products.

His speech on Wednesday also mentioned ways to encourage entrepreneurial opportunities at schools and universities, such as clubs and societies.

Speaking at Westminster Hall, he said: “When I have gone around talking to young people in schools and colleges, partly incentivised by the incredibly popular Apprentice and Dragons’ Den programmes, young people are full of enthusiasm and ideas about how to become the next generation of entrepreneurs.

“In many ways, the timing is perfect. They generally tend not to have a mortgage, dependents or a life’s savings to blow.

“They feel that they have less to lose than older people and this puts them in a unique position, where they are happy to take risks.

“When asked if they would like to be the next generation of entrepreneurs, the hands all shoot up.

“However, when asked how many will seriously follow this path, the enthusiastic hands are replaced by deafening silence and tumbleweed. It transpires that they simply do not know how to turn their ideas into reality.”