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Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) top of the south regional co-ordinator Alex Bradley estimated the numbers had doubled over the past two years. A total of 306 pupils attended two recent 2018 kickstart days. In 2017, there were about 230 pupils in the scheme across the region.

Bradley attributed some of that growth to great support from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology and the Nelson Regional Development Agency as well as a range of business mentors.

Young Enterprise Trust chief executive Terry Shubkin said Nelson-Marlborough was one of the biggest growing regions in New Zealand.

​Shubkin, who was in Nelson last week for a YES-organised Q&A session with former prime minister Helen Clark, credited the community with the rapid growth including some "really passionate teachers".

She said she believed there was a growing recognition in schools about the importance of what the pupils learnt via YES including work-ready skills such as working in a team, resilience and innovation.

"So many skills, whether they're going to be a job seeker or a job creator," Shubkin said.

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