Business students at Peterborough school get a lesson in making dough

Year 10 business students at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington, Peterborough, were treated to a business and enterprise workshop delivered by Papa Luigi founders Stef Malajny and Seb Scibelli.
The Business Studies day at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington.The Business Studies day at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington.
The Business Studies day at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington.

The interactive workshop involved students receiving a talk from Stef regarding how he founded the Peterborough-based business 35 years ago alongside his lifelong friends, brothers Antonio and Seb Scibelli.

Stef also gave the students some tips on how they could start their own businesses, drawing upon his hobby of collecting rare Northern Soul records.

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The students are studying a new BTEC in Enterprise, which is a vocational course requiring students to learn practical skills about starting up and running small businesses. Rather than just learning about businesses from textbooks or the internet, this workshop gave the students the opportunity to learn first-hand from successful local entrepreneurs.

The Business Studies day at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington.The Business Studies day at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington.
The Business Studies day at Ken Stimpson Community School in Werrington.

Seb and Pietro Scibelli demonstrated the traditional way in which the pizzas are made, rolling out dough made that very day and using only the freshest ingredients. Alongside seeing how the pizzas are made, the students also took part in a pizza box folding demonstration, got to try their hand at pizza throwing and got to taste the famous Papa Luigi pizzas for themselves at the end of the session.

Stef said he was delighted to be able to share his expertise with the students. He said: “This is the 35th anniversary of Papa Luigi so we were very happy to come in and meet the students. The students were extremely well behaved and receptive to our advice about starting up a small business, and I hope I can inspire one or two to raid their attics and start their own little eBay empires!

“One of the youngsters, Shaun Gear, impressed our team so much with his enthusiasm, he not only won a prize for pizza throwing, he has also been offered a Saturday job at the Lincoln Road branch.”

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The workshop was organised by Kevin Abbott, Assistant Principal at the school. “The students have to study two local businesses as part of their BTEC,” he said.

“Stef’s talk has really brought the subject to life, and I am sure he has persuaded our students to think seriously about putting the theory into practice, and going into business for themselves in the next few years.”