A new £1.2m facility for teaching enterprise and entrepreneurship skills has been officially opened at City College Norwich.

Gazelle entrepreneurs Priya Lakhani, founder of Masala Masala and SOCO, and Ben Ramsden, founder of Pants to Poverty, alongside City College Norwich Principal Dick Palmer, joined more than 100 students from City College Norwich and partner schools and colleges to launch the StartUp Lounge.

The main reception area of the college was transformed into a vibrant market, before guests had the opportunity to tour the StartUp Lounge which takes students through a series of stages in a business start-up “journey”.

Dick Palmer, principal at City College Norwich and chairman of Generator Enterprises said: “The StartUp Lounge and the work of our partner college principals in Gazelle is about transforming further education and helping to create the start-up businesses needed for future growth.

“Our students are already making fantastic use of the StartUp Lounge and from September we will be making these opportunities an entitlement for all of our 14,000 students.”