Young entrepreneurs will put their sales patter to the test when they man market stalls on Saturday.

The challenge will see 39 teams of schoolchildren – some as young as five – competing to see who can make the most cash from a pop-up market in the city centre.

The young teams will be trying to convince members of the public to shell out for their handmade crafts, foods and jewellery.

The participants, from schools all over the district, will be split into two age categories, ages five to 11 and ages 11 to 19.

And the teams who make the most profit will walk away with a £250 cash prize.

A separate ‘Hand Made in Bradford Award’ will be given to the two teams which have produced the best quality hand-made products.

These winners will get to share the front table in Fabric’s Hand Made in Bradford shop for a week and will also have a chance to become a regular maker for the store.

The finalist teams have been shortlisted from 125 entrants, who had to pitch their ideas to business leaders, Dragons’ Den-style, to secure real cash investments in their products.

Amerjeat Sarai, an enterprise enablement officer at Bradford Council, has been helping to run the scheme. She said the enterprise challenge was in its fourth year, and the market day itself was always an eventful day.

She said: “It’s a fun day. It’s really good to see them all there on the day – they’ve gone through that whole journey from their one single idea.”

The market challenge is based on the story of Morrisons, which started as a humble market stall, and the supermarket giant is one of many businesses that have lent their support to the scheme, either through sponsorship or guidance.

Dalton Philips, chief executive of Morrisons, said: “It’s fantastic that so many young people in the Bradford district have the desire and passion to become young entrepreneurs. I wish them all the very best for the final.”

The ‘Step Up Market Challenge’ will be started by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Khadim Hussain, at 10am on Saturday.

The young traders will be selling their wares on Darley Street, Bradford, until 2pm.