More than £30 million is set to be spent on the NEA, with £8m coming from the government for its set up and operation and the remaining £24m coming from other public and private sector funding, including a £4m investment by Mr Jones himself.

He told Business Herald: "It has been my dream to open up an academy where we can teach students to be more enterprising and entrepreneurial.

"If I didn't believe it could be taught I would not be wasting my money.

"People who have come into my business who spend time working alongside me have become entrepreneurial, and set up their own business and become successful."

The enterprise academies will eventually be rolled out across the UK, reaching tens of thousands of young people, but in a major coup for Bucks the county has been chosen to be the first location.

In just two months time the NEA pilot programme for 35 16-18 year-olds will be delivered at the Amersham campus of Amersham and Wycombe college, with students also attending Aylesbury College, Bucks New University and Green Park in Aston Clinton for masterclasses, challenges, and outdoor activities.

Mr Jones, who lives in Marlow, said: "I hope that the presence of the academy will help to establish Buckinghamshire and the South East of England at the forefront of enterprise learning."

There is of course the possibility that an NEA student could one day face Mr Jones and the rest of the dragons in the den.

"I imagine and I'm hoping that after 12 months of intensive training, if they did appear I'm pretty confident their pitch will blow us all away," he said.

To apply for the pilot programme, you must have been aged between 16-17 on September 1 2008. Applications close on November 10th 2008. Log onto www.peterjonesfoundation.org

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