By Marcus Leach

Prime Minister David Cameron today, Monday, invited several of the outstanding young entrepreneurs that have been taking part in Tenner Tycoon, the month-long school enterprise scheme backed by Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Peter Jones, to join him at Downing Street for a special ‘kids cabinet’ meeting.

The invitation came at the close of a month that has seen up to 40,000 schoolchildren across the UK given the opportunity to borrow £10 to ‘make money, make a difference, and give back’.

The initiative, which has captured the imagination of hundreds of schools and thousands of schoolchildren across the UK, is designed to foster a culture of entrepreneurship and give schoolchildren what is often their first experience of being entrepreneurial.

The Prime Minister met budding entrepreneurs from Caroline Chisholm School and 12 year-old Scott Chapman from Derbyshire, who had all taken up the challenge to make as much profit as they could by doing things that would make a positive difference to their local community.

Tenner Tycoon is a major initiative that aims to drive a new generation of entrepreneurs who will be inspired to take action and play their part in the ‘enterprise-led recovery’. It also encourages schoolchildren to ‘give something back’ and use their profits to help their local community or even donate them to charity.

“Tenner Tycoon challenges young people to aspire to be a successful entrepreneur," Peter Jones said.

"It provides an opportunity to experience business and enterprise firsthand and learn about being an entrepreneur. I am delighted that this year’s competition has been such a success and we are determined to increase participation in the coming years to over 1.2 million schoolchildren across the UK.”

Following on from a 'pro-growth' Budget the Prime Minister also lent his support to the scheme.

"Entrepreneurship is vital to economic growth in Britain and I'm really glad to have had the chance to meet some of the next generation of entrepreneurs today," The Prime Minister, David Cameron.

"I've heard some inspiring stories which combine real business acumen with a passionate desire to make a difference. Tenner Tycoon is an impressive scheme and I am delighted to support it."

Tenner Tycoon is run by Enterprise UK and fronted by Peter Jones. A £400,000 Tenner Bank was made available to schools, colleges and youth groups across the country through support from Peter Jones, Big Lottery Fund and Michael and Xochi Birch.