ifs Young Business Writer of the year 2008

Local MP Malcolm Moss has called on teenagers in North East Cambridgeshire to take part in a national writing competition organised by financial education charity, the ifs School of Finance.

The ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition is open to anyone aged between 14 and 19 and enables them to test their writing skills by writing an article of no more than 1,000 words in a business magazine style.

Every year the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year competition is judged by a business or finance journalist from a national newspaper. In recent years judges have included Rob Budden from the Financial Times and Robert Cole from The Times. This year the competition will be judged by James Daley, Personal Finance Editor for The Independent.

James will be awarding marks for demonstrating research, evaluation, analysis and written argument skills and for good overall reporting style.

As well as the title “ifs Young Business Writer of the Year 2008” the author of the winning article will receive a prize of £500.

The title for the article is:

“Saving for the future, one size fits all?”

Budding young business writers should think about the various savings options available to the British public. Possible questions to consider when thinking about this issue include: Are the options available sufficient? Are some savings mechanisms better than others? Are some methods of saving more suited to particular types of individual? What should the role of the state be in providing for people's retirement? 

Malcolm Moss MP said,

“I am happy to voice my support for the ifs Young Business Writer of the Year Competition as it can help to improve writing standards in general whilst ensuring students think about what is a very important issue i.e. saving for the future.

I sincerely hope that 14-19 year olds in North East Cambridgeshire participate in the competition and wish them every success in doing so.”

Gary Millner, Corporate Relations & Communications Director at the ifs School of Finance, said;

 “We are very grateful for the support of Malcolm Moss MP in highlighting the benefits of this worthwhile competition.

I’m sure we will receive many different views about how to tackle this problem from young people across the UK, including North East Cambridgeshire.”

Anyone aged between 14 and 19 who wishes to enter the competition simply has to e-mail their article (which must not exceed 1,000 words) to ybwy@ifslearning.ac.uk between now and February 29 2008.

Further details can be found online at www.studentinvestor.org