And finally…12 year-old becomes UK’s youngest CEO

Jenk Oz, a 12-year-old from London, has become Britain’s youngest CEO.

Oz is the brains behind iCoolKid, a online resource set up for tweens after he decided there needed to be a way for him and others of his age to share the interesting and exciting activities they’d taken part in.

From presenting the concept at a school show-and-tell three years ago, Oz built his concept into a newsletter and then a fully-functioning company with a YouTube channel, SoundCloud offering and an upcoming clothing line.

He’s also managed to bag interviews with well known actors, singers and TV personalities including Idris Elba, Gemma Arterton and James Cordon.

“When you’re an only child like me, you get used to spending lots of your time with adults. You get comfortable talking to them, and maybe you even start acting a bit like them too”, Oz said. “So it actually didn’t feel too weird when I recently started up a company, employing people who are quite a few years older than me! I’m 12, and thanks to my website, which is based in London, I’m now the country’s youngest CEO.

“It wasn’t something I ever planned, really. At first there was only an idea. Me and my mum started emailing out a newsletter with tips of fun things for my schoolfriends to do at weekends. I didn’t seriously think something like that could turn into a business, but I kept working on it anyway, and one day got to present it to my whole school in a show-and-tell. Persuading 300 kids and teachers was my first big task. Luckily, they were really encouraging. So the original idea became iCoolKid, a website telling eight to 15-year-olds about all the cool stuff they need to visit, watch, listen to, buy and sign up for – from DJ lessons to ping-pong tournaments.

“We get 4,000 hits on some days, have 55,000 social followers and employ seven staff. We were definitely inspired by what Time Out does – but there’s not much information out there for people my age. Why not? Generation Z wants to go out and have a good time, just like anyone else.”

Reflecting on his achievement, Oz advocates children “treating your idea like a company”.

He added: “Everything apart from my school work has to be 100% about the business. That’s how you make it as a young entrepreneur.”