IT student Leo Bracken knows a business opportunity when he sees one.

The 16-year-old has turned his passion for gaming into an enterprise venture, picking up a host of new skills along the way.

“When I started at the college, a few of us would occasionally play games on a lunch time just for fun,” he said. “Then I started to think about turning it into a bit of a club.”

Committing his time and effort into getting the group up and running, Leo said the idea was just to open up the club to more students.

But it was after hearing about the college’s enterprise initiative that Leo realised the potential was there to get some investment in the project and brush up on his business skills at the same time.

At Stockton Riverside College we are creating a culture of enterprise in a bid to build students’ employment chances and even open their eyes to the possibility of running their own businesses in the future.

Facing a “Dragons’ Den” style interview where he pitched his idea for a gaming station, Leo managed to secure a small investment, enabling him to buy more equipment and open the club to more people.

Now launching a weekly gaming group, PennyGaming, students can pay either 20p or 50p for up to 20 minutes of gaming.

For Leo it has offered the ideal opportunity to develop his business skills.

“It is great experience for me and something else to put on my CV,” he said. “I have had to do my research, chat to people about the idea and also do a bit of haggling.

“It’s certainly something I hope to continue during my time at the college.”