YOUNG entrepreneurs at Cirencester Sixth Form College are enjoying new facilities to help them become future business leaders.

The Santander Enterprise Room was officially launched last Thursday to give students a dedicated space for working with employers and mentors as part of their courses.

It was created with the £5,000 prize received by the college for winning the Santander Career Academy of the Year Award last year.

Customised for the college’s careers scheme students, the room includes office-style workstations, desks with laptops to support group-working tasks, a boardroom-style table and a wall-mounted TV and conference phone for meetings and presentations.

There is also an informal area with comfortable seating and a coffee table for review meetings and discussions with mentors.

Ben Rudd. who attended the launch event and is part of the college’s career scheme, said students would benefit hugely from the new facilities.

The 18-year-old, who studies engineering, maths and physics, explained that students could use the new facilities for things like applying for internships, which require quiet for concentration.

Kate Harvey, a business and accountancy student, said that the new room was much needed as previously careers students had to book out other rooms at the college which were often in high demand.

The 18-year-old said: “Sometimes other people had booked the rooms out so we couldn’t use them. It gives me that confidence that we will be able to do our internships because we have our own space.”

The event was attended by Anne Spackman, executive director of Career Academies UK, a national charity that works with the college to prepare its students for the world of work.

She said that the college was the best performing education institution that the charity works with.

“They are a model of best practice,” she said. “A lot of new schools and colleges that are situated in large cities are supported by large employers.

“It is much harder to get a big number of employers together in a small place and this new room will help.”