Ben Dyer is a social entrepreneur from Stoke, who epitomises British entrepreneurial grit and courage. His "against all odds" story is as inspiring as it is heart warming.

Ben grew up on a tough council estate and struggled academically with Dyslexia. His first business went bankrupt, but he picked himself back up and determiniedly battled back to launch The National Enterprise Challenge in 2013 with his cousin Michael.

Backed by high profile ambassadors that have included Lord Sugar and Theo Paphitis, the challenge is now the largest secondary school enterprise challenge in the UK with over 200,000 students having taken part.

In 2017, Ben also co launched The National Skills Challenge with Natwest with the grand finals taking place at Natwest HQ in London in April 2018.

Ben speaks openly about the challenges he's faced with bankruptcy, dyslexia and his difficult upbringing.

He also talks about how he managed to persuade Lord Sugar and Theo Paphitis to back the challenge, growing it to be the largest in the UK.

Ben and Michael were crowned Social Enterprise Entrepreneurs of the year at the Natwest Great British Entrepreneurs awards in 2016 and recently won Young Business people of the year at the Staffordshire Sentinel Business Awards. In 2020, Ben was named one of Staffordshire's most influential people, alongside fellow local Robbie Williams.

National Enterprise Challenge

https://www.nationalenterprisechallenge.co.uk/