PRIMARY school pupils have proved that age is no barrier to entrepreneurship after setting up their own Fairtrade shop in a summerhouse.

The group of 10 and 11-year-olds from Nettlesworth Primary School came up with the idea for the shop, which is now open for business with help from local companies including Cestria Community Housing.

Head teacher Lee Roberts said: “The children really have done this all themselves and have learnt so many life skills in the process, from handling money and researching and ordering products to working in a team and serving customers.

“There has been a great response already from the local community and we have lots of ideas about how we could expand in future, such as joining up with the local allotment to sell fresh produce.”

The school was approached by Cestria Community Housing which offered to provide the summerhouse, foundations, paving and flowerbeds needed to open the shop.

Pupils then picked the products they wanted to sell and organised a launch, during which they raised more than £200.

Some of the money will be donated to charity with the rest invested back into the shop through new products.

Cestria Housing Officer Angela Knox said: “Our work is all about supporting the communities in which we work and we could see that the shop was a project the pupils were really passionate about and which would really benefit them and the rest of the community”.

The finished shop sells a range of Fairtrade food and drink items such as cereal bars and sweets, as well as stationary such as pencils and rubbers and gifts including woven friendship bracelets, purses and keyrings, with most items costing between 50p and £1.

It will be open to pupils every Friday and to the community once a month from September.