Fifty-two students, seven livery companies, thirteen teams, and a finish decided by fine margins. The second Livery Entrepreneurs' Challenge confirmed the first was no one-off.

On Monday 2 March, fifty-two Year 12 students arrived at Haberdashers' Hall with a straightforward brief: run a better business than the twelve teams around you, and win the cup for the livery company that sponsors your school.

The Livery Entrepreneurs' Challenge is a business simulation competition created by the Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs in partnership with the Haberdashers' Company, whose Hall hosted the day for the second year running. Six livery companies fielded teams at the inaugural event in 2025. This year it was seven: Haberdashers, Grocers, Merchant Taylors, Skinners, Mercers and Leathersellers were joined by the Drapers, competing for the first time. That put six of the City's Great Twelve in one room, represented by students from the schools they support.

The day opened with founder stories from Liveryman Rakhitha Dias and Freeman Jo Bell, who each traced their route into entrepreneurship and the lessons collected along the way. It set the tone for what followed: this was a day about decisions, not theory.

Liveryman Paddy Willis then led the thirteen teams through four trading quarters of a retail business simulation. Each quarter forced choices, and each choice carried consequences into the next. Crucially, the winners were judged on a balanced scorecard rather than profit alone. A team could not spend its way to a healthy top line and neglect everything else. The businesses that scored well were the ones run well across the board.

From thirteen teams, it came down to two. Leathersellers "B" edged out Grocers "A" to lift the cup, presented by Haberdashers' Prime Warden Caroline Davis. The Leathersellers were the only company in the field from outside the Great Twelve. Order of precedence counted for nothing on the day.

Past Master Mark Huxley then added a prize of his own: a private tour of Lloyd's of London for both winning teams, a look inside the market where he spent his City career. For a room full of seventeen-year-olds weighing up their futures, that is exactly the kind of door the livery movement exists to open.

Which is, of course, the point of the Challenge. The Company's education work is built on a simple idea: young people develop commercial judgement by exercising it, not by reading about it. Feedback from the inaugural event bears that out. Nine in ten students said the day improved their ability to make business decisions, think critically and challenge assumptions, and more than eight in ten said it left them feeling more connected to the livery company that supports their school. Those connections are the quiet, long-term return.

The participating companies are already asking about next year. As one contact at the Grocers put it: "On behalf of the Grocers and our teams, I wanted to thank you all for another brilliant event on Monday. It was a really worthwhile experience for the students and a great mix of speakers, simulations and teamwork."

A third Challenge will follow in 2027. On current form, Haberdashers' Hall may need more tables.