PART of a school was transformed into an office-like environment offering students an insight into the world of work.

Year 12 pupils at Barnard Castle School were allocated into teams of eight and were challenged to create a marketing campaign based around the new Nissan Note, as part of the school’s annual Industry Day.

They were guided by a business mentor, which included representatives from Nissan, Barbour, Deutsche Bank, Cisco Systems, Propipe, Teeny Tiny films and Virgin Media.

Their campaign had to include a billboard poster, VIP event and radio advertisement for the car, and the youngsters had to recommend a location for a factory, taking into account such factors as economic viability, labour costs and export links.

Following presentations to the seven mentors, school staff and fellow students, the overall winning team was chosen as the one representing the school’s Modern Foreign Languages Department.

A spokeswoman for the school described the pitch delivered by team members Chloe Thompson and Emma Robson as “exceptional”.

She thanked the mentors from the respective industries for attending the event, which takes place at the school every year, offering students a realistic business challenge with deadlines to meet.

The theme for next year’s event will be based around creating a marketing campaign for the Paralympics.