A Monmouth School for Boys student has won a prestigious essay writing competition and a work experience placement at a major firm in London.
Elis Bird clinched the Cazenove Schroders Economic Prize, with fellow Monmouth Boys pupil Jasper Herbert finishing as runner-up. The annual competition was organised by the Haberdashers’ Company and received entries from students studying A Level economics at 10 participating schools. The duo’s answers to the question ‘Will the fall in the pound rebalance the UK economy?’ led to their invite to Haberdashers’ Hall for the awards ceremony. Elis can now look forward to two days of work experience with Schroders, a British multi-national asset management company which employs over 4,100 people worldwide.
He said: “I argued that a devaluation of the pound alone wouldn’t bring about a rebalancing of the UK economy without any structural reform because the UK economy is heavily invested in the service sector. In the long-term, I am thinking about the possibility of doing a masters in economics and then going into the financial sector and perhaps into investment banking or a similar area.”
Commenting on the ceremony, Elis said: “My trip to Haberdashers’ Hall for the ceremony was fantastic. I made new contacts and it was a great experience to meet all the Haberdashers and Bruno Schroder (the great-grandson of John Henry Schroder, the co-founder of Schroders). I am looking forward to spending two days in London with Schroders where they will show me what they do and how they decide what to invest in.”
Elis was presented with £150 in prize money and won £300 for the school, where he is studying Economics at A level. He is also studying mathematics and history at A Level and hopes to read economics at the University of Bath. Jasper received £50 as the runner-up and also studies history and Latin and hopes to read the former at the University at Bristol.