Prime Minister and Richmond MP Rishi Sunak praised the enterprise of young business apprentices at a village primary school’s summer fair.

The MP called in to the fair held at Bolton-on-Swale St Mary’s Church of England Primary School to meet pupils, staff and parents at the annual event. He was taken round the fair by headteacher Nicola Dobson and year six pupils Sophie Sweete and William Borthwick.

Among the many stalls run by the Friends of the School, parents and children were those organised by the school’s budding entrepreneurs. Mr Sunak spent time talking to year five and six Young Apprentices. Each team had its own stall, worked to a budget, carried out market research and sourced merchandise or services to sell.

One team, called Rocket Retail, designed logos and posters. They even produced their own marketing video which was screened. The winning team, making the most profit, was The Five Dealers.

Benefit from unrivalled local journalism with a Northern Echo digital subscription for just £1.50 a week. Click here.

Mr Sunak said: “This was a great school event despite the less than summery weather. “There was a great range of stalls and I was particularly impressed by the young apprentices who had some excellent ideas and showed impressive enterprise in making them work.”

Mrs Dobson added: “We were delighted to be able to welcome Rishi once again to our school and this time to our summer fair. The children really appreciated the interest he showed in their 'Young Apprentice Stalls'. These stalls represent an important piece of work linked to business, budget, profit and marketing. They were really pleased Rishi took time to watch one of their marketing videos.”

Mr Sunak also visited the Eco Teams stall and bought one of their recycled Eco bricks made of shredded paper. During the visit he met two children from Ukraine who attend the school through the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.