Inspired by the hit tv series Dragons Den, one of the area’s youngest successful businessmen has been appointed chairman of an Aylesbury Vale charity.
Richard Convery, 27, who grew up in Aylesbury and is a former Aylesbury Grammar School pupil, is now an entrepreneur in his own right, running his own IT implementation business Alchemy Systems Analysis Ltd based in the town.
Richard has been involved with Young Enterprise for two years and has contributed greatly to its ongoing success, providing students with the opportunity of running their own mini businesses for a year whilst still at school.
He said: “I completed Young Enterprise Company Program as a student. This was my first taste of business and my first step towards running my own company.
“I now want to give other young people the same opportunity.”
After a few years of working for one of the country’s leading accountancy firms in London Richard was inspired by TV programmes such as The Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice. With a desire to learn more about business than just accounts, Richard started his entrepreneurial journey by sending his CV out to all the celebrity entrepreneurs that he could think of.
“I truly believe that if you don’t ask, you don’t get. In this case I asked the entrepreneurs if I could work alongside them and learn from them. My luck was in and Rachel Elnaugh from the BBC’s Dragon’s Den was thinking about bringing on someone to help in her business.
“Rachel went out of her way to educate me and change my way of thinking from being a corporate employee to an open minded entrepreneur and I have never looked back.”
Richard takes over from Linda Nicholls, who will remain on the Young Enterprise board as treasurer.
If you are in business and want to share your skills with a new generation of entrepreneurs and would like to get involved you can contact Linda on 07763 009828.
Full details of the Young Enterprise programmes, organisation and goals can be downloaded from www.young-enterprise.org.uk