A RECORD number of students from schools and colleges across Yorkshire will descend on Huddersfield this summer for a major business competition.

This year’s Umph! contest will take place on July 2 at the John Smith’s Stadium – with four-strong teams of 16 to 19-year-olds taking part in workshop-style sessions to tackle business issues thrown at them by business simulation software SimVenture.

Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle and Jacob Hill, founder of The Lazy Camper festivals essentials business, will be among entrepreneurs working closely with the students and giving them the benefit of their business knowledge and experience.

Umph! is the brainchild of financial adviser Grant Thornton and forms part of the firm’s Educate to Innovate programme, which aims to encourage entrepreneurship in students and forge links between business and education in the region.

Now in its third year, the competition is open to teams of budding young entrepreneurs, representing their school, sixth form or FE college.

Twenty-six teams of students will take part in the contest in Huddersfield – with the winning team and creator of the most successful virtual business being awarded a trophy.

Each member of the winning team will also receive their own iPad.

Helena Taylor, who was named most enterprising individual at Umph! last year, said: “It was fantastic to meet all the entrepreneurs in person and I learned a lot. Most importantly, perhaps, the event has given me the ambition to set up and run my own business, which I hope to do one day.”

Sandra O’Neill, head of business development at Grant Thornton, said: “There is a growing national emphasis on forging stronger links between education and business, which is the focus of Umph!

“The competition gives students a valuable opportunity to meet and question entrepreneurs about what a career in business is really like and it is this kind of interaction that often provides the spark of inspiration and is generally unavailable as part of academic studies.”

Alan Archer, business initiatives manager at Kirklees Council, which is also involved in Umph!, said: “Events like this play an essential role in the local economy by helping young people understand what a career in business is all about, as well as showing them how their own entrepreneurial skills could be developed in a meaningful way.”

Also supporting Umph! are Huddersfield Town, SimVenture, Birstall-based Fantastic Media and Huddersfield University.