Dragon Dens’ Peter Jones hands young entrepreneur £5,000 for his drone start-up

An 18-year-old entrepreneur has received a £5,000 investment from Dragons Dens’ Peter Jones for his drone start-up.

Jack Brookes, from Dudley College, has been awarded the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy’s National Entrepreneur of the Year prize for his business Swiftshot Airborne Service.

Seeing off five other hopefuls, Brookes was required to pitch his idea to veteran entrepreneur and investor Jones – and will now use the awarded funds to help growt his start-up.

Based in the West Midlands yet offering its services across the UK, SwiftShot Airborne offers bespoke airborne services such as photography, videography, surveying, inspection and security using professional drones.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old George Fox from Chelmsford College was awarded ‘Highly Commended’, for his gardening tool invention Ezi Dig – and received a Dell tablet and access to mentoring from Pets Corner CEO Dean Richmond.

The last remaining original Dragon, Peter Jones has been in the investors chair of the popular TV show since 2005, where he has invested in over 60 businesses to date.

Mainly backing businesses in the tech sector, Jones launched the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy (PJEA) in 2009 to teach entrepreneurial skills to young people throughout the UK.

Other award winners announced on the day were as follows:

• Level 2 Student of the Year: Harry Wheeldon from Kirklees College
• Level 3 Student of the Year: Paige Kendall from Leicester College
• Inspirational Student: Imogen Johnson from East Durham College
• Business Enterprise Manager of the Year: Shaun McCarthy from Amersham and Wycombe College
• Enterprise Tutor of the Year: Stuart Allen from Malvern Business Academy

Parson said:

“Wow, I can’t believe I’ve won! Just having pitched to Peter Jones was enough to make me feel proud of my achievements, but to know that he believes in me and my business means the world to me.

“Pitching in front of the amazing panel at my age, eighteen, was a great opportunity, as it’s the only one in the country to provide this for people my age. I believe that every young person wanting to be an entrepreneur should go to the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.”

Jonny Sobczyk, Peter Jones Foundation CEO, said:

“I’m proud of all of the students that graduated this year and have every faith that they will go on to do remarkable things. The day was a fantastic celebration of their achievements during their time with us.”