From School Tuck Shop to Social Enterprise: The Making of Bejay Mulenga

When Bejay Mulenga was still in secondary school, he became aware of a gap between what business education promised and what it delivered. While his classmates were learning theory from textbooks, he was impatient to try things for himself. At the age of 14 he persuaded his school to let him and a group of friends run a small tuck shop. What began as a modest idea quickly turned into a real commercial operation, eventually generating thousands of pounds in turnover. For Mulenga, the experience proved that young people were more than capable of running practical business ventures when given the opportunity, and it sparked a long-term commitment to offering other students the same chance.

The tuck-shop project soon grew beyond the boundaries of a single school. Mulenga formalised the model and developed it into a structured programme that allowed students in multiple schools to run similar micro-businesses. The aim was to give teenagers the skills and confidence to engage with entrepreneurship at an early age. He built lessons around stock management, customer service, profit margins and teamwork, with a strong emphasis on learning through doing. Over time, the initiative spread widely, engaging thousands of young people and attracting interest from educators, local authorities and youth organisations across London and further afield.

As Mulenga’s early projects gained traction, he broadened his ambitions and founded Supa Network, a company designed to bridge the gap between young talent and the world of work. The organisation operates in training, creative production and recruitment, placing young people at the centre of commercial and cultural projects. Through Supa Network, Mulenga worked with a wide range of partners, from global brands looking to understand youth culture to community groups seeking new ways to support employment and skills development. The work positioned him not only as an entrepreneur but as someone able to cultivate large-scale collaborations that benefit young people directly.

When the pandemic reshaped the business landscape, Mulenga responded with another shift in direction. He co-founded The Great Feast of London, a project originally conceived as a festival celebrating food and community. With lockdowns in place, the idea was reimagined as a delivery-driven platform that connected Londoners to independent chefs, restaurants and producers. Alongside it, a social-impact initiative ensured meals were provided for people facing food poverty, reflecting Mulenga’s long-standing belief that business should contribute meaningfully to society. The project demonstrated his ability to adapt rapidly while maintaining a clear sense of purpose.

Throughout his career, Mulenga has consistently argued that entrepreneurship should not be seen as something exclusive or reserved for those with traditional qualifications. His work is grounded in the conviction that hands-on experience can transform a young person’s confidence and future prospects, especially in communities where opportunities may feel limited. He has often acted as a bridge between institutions and youth culture, showing organisations how to understand and engage with young people on more equal terms.

Mulenga’s journey continues to resonate because it reflects a combination of practical creativity, social commitment and early self-motivation. He remains active in building platforms that connect talent with opportunity, and his projects frequently highlight the potential of young people who are rarely included in mainstream narratives about entrepreneurship. From a school tuck shop to multi-sector collaborations, his career demonstrates how ideas rooted in everyday experience can grow into initiatives with national reach, and how purpose-driven business can be both commercially successful and socially constructive.