Support Your Local School

The founders of the innovative board game – Business on the Move – which teaches people of all ages about the importance of today’s supply chain in global commerce, are urging businesses  to support their local school.

Co-developer Patricia Smedley – like her colleague Andy Page, a former advisory teacher and Head of Business Studies, said: “In less than 12 months we have distributed more than 80% of our initial 2,800 games produced to schools and colleges all over the UK.  We are now looking for just 100 more businesses to order five games each and donate them to their local school.  We are in the crucial last mile of our social enterprise’s first production run and, with a final push of business support, we can get over the finishing line.”

Business on the Move aims to inspire, excite and educate young people from the age of 9 to 19, and beyond about the world of business and global supply chains. “So often,” Patricia remarked, “successful supply chains are invisible to students, they are under their radar. Our game seeks to demonstrate how important supply chains are, so that they are not taken for granted.”

 For just £267 (inc VAT and p&p) a business can purchase five games and donate them to their local school.  The price includes box lid labels identifying the company as the sponsor. Alternatively, for a further £150, the business’s name can be incorporated into the actual board and into the accompanying order cards becoming part of the game itself.

“We urge businesses of all kinds to help inspire young people about logistics and global supply chains and potentially open the door to a fulfilling career in the sector.  From both corporate social responsibility and PR perspectives, this has to be money well spent,” added Patricia.

With the backing of 50 original sponsors – including logistics providers, major retailers, financial services and others – the vast majority of the first tranche of 2,800 games produced have already been distributed to schools and colleges nationwide.

As well as Business on the Move works as an educational board game, it is much more than that. Backed up by more than 50 classroom activities  which are included in the price, Business on the Move is a powerful platform for learning. Players apply their knowledge of subjects such as English, Maths and Geography to the reality of logistics and global supply chains through exercises devised in partnership with the game’s sponsors. Activities relate to Key Stage 2 in primary school right through to Key Stage 5 in sixth forms. All are matched to the new national curriculum.

Patricia and Andy originally set up their Very Enterprising Community Interest Company*, a social enterprise, in 2011 to create a versatile supply chain game that could be used by UK teachers across age groups, school subjects and ability levels.

Steve Agg, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, said: “It’s fun, you get challenged. You can learn from your successes and failures and you gain reward.  We recognised right from the start that the game could help young people to understand the role that logistics, transport and supply chain plays in all our daily lives. Employing more than 10% of the working population in the UK, it ensures that there are great opportunities for young people and we want them to love logistics when they come to consider their career options.”

Steve Foster, Supply Chain Strategy Manager at Marks & Spencer, said: “This initiative is a unique and fun way for us to engage with our local school communities and bring supply chains and logistics into the classroom in a way that can impact on so many areas of the curriculum.  It is a great way of developing commercial and problem solving skills while also increasing awareness of the environmental impact caused by the movement of goods around the world.”

To see the game in action, read the comments of teachers and young people of all ages and order online, visit the game’s Gallery on the website.

You can also find out more  about how to “Support Your Local School” under the “Learning” section.