MORE than 800 young entrepreneurs from schools and colleges across the region gathered yesterday to hear words of wisdom from a host of the UK’s leading young tycoons.

At the Use Your Loaf event, entrepreneurs from across the country shared their experiences in business with young people from the North- East, who hope to follow in their footsteps.

The event, at the Rainton Meadows Arena, in Houghton- le-Spring, Wearside, was part of the If We Can, You Can campaign, which is looking to find the cream of emerging North-East entrepreneurship.

Speakers at the event, organised by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, included Dan Germain, from Innocent Smoothies, Trunki inventor Rob Law, and Matt Scott, of MES Footwork, who was The Northern Echo’s winner of the If We Can, You Can challenge two years ago.

Victoria Rought, from the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “The combination of wisdom, passion, vision, drive and determination shared by our speakers has been great and the feedback has already positioned them as role models for these students.

“We have been overwhelmed at another phenomenal turnout, it just goes to show that all it takes is inspirational people telling their stories to fire up the passion in young people to make them believe that they too could achieve that amount of success.”

Mr Germain said he was impressed at the enthusiasm of the young people “It’s amazing to see so many passionate young people taking an interest in what we do and how we did it,” he said.

“If we had had a conference like this to go to when we were younger with all of this useful advice, we probably would have got to where we are now a lot easier.”

■ To enter the If We Can, You Can challenge, which offers a £5,000 business support prize, go to ifwecanyoucan.co.uk