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AB Legends: my first lesson in commerce (1996)

2026-07-29

Young Enterprise with Midland Bank, a £100 overdraft, a near-empty Lakeside coach, a profitable trip to old Wembley — and seven lessons from AB Legends at Witham Sixth Form in 1996.

Witham and Braintree Times · Thursday, November 7, 1996 I've been running my own business since 2006 after redundancy — go and read the about page if you want that bit. This though… this was the first time. 1996. Witham Sixth Form Centre. Advanced GNVQ Business. Young Enterprise. I was 16 or 17. The local paper ran a piece on us under the headline “Students come up with the goods.” Which, looking back, was optimistic. Young Enterprise was run in conjunction with Midland Bank, and honestly that bit was brilliant. Every project got a bank card. A cheque book. And a £100 overdraft you could use without having to pay it back. A proper bank handing sixth formers actual money tools and saying “go on then… have a go.” We even got a tour of the bank with the old bank manager as our advisor — George Bamford — walking us round like we were about to become the next generation of high street finance rather than a group of teenagers trying not to lose the cheque book. In 2026 that building is a Lounge Bar. All the banks in Witham have gone. Anyway. I wasn't actually in on the day the rest of the group decided the company name. I rocked up a day later and discovered we were called AB Legends . A…

Topics: Business adviceReflection

Matthew Eaves — escape room franchise founder, operator, and writer. Also: franchise, posts, contact.