YOUNGSTERS with a sweet tooth are hoping to develop a sharp mind next week as they get their teeth into a chocolate challenge.

Year nine pupils at St John's School, Bishop Auckland, will take part in the Giant Minds business initiative.

The pupils will design, plan and manufacture a chocolate product.

During English, the pupils will learn how to write a press release to launch their product. In maths, they learn how to budget or find ways to fund their start-up. In geography, they look at factory locations, and in RE they will examine fair trade and business ethics.

The Giant Minds event will run all week, culminating in a grand finale on Friday, where a local entrepreneurs will sit on an Angel's Cloud - a friendlier version of the Dragon's Den panel.

Peter Hirst, Giant Minds manager, said: "Business is much more than stuffy blokes in suits. It can be exciting, challenging and rewarding.

"The aim is to help young people to realise that they have the potential to be the next Duncan Bannatyne.

"The North-East has not been a hotbed of enterprise. That is not because we don't have the talent, it is because we haven't taken the time to show youngsters how to develop."