The Runners-Up and Highly Commended Finalists in the 2009 Entrepreneur Awards
At the Awards Ceremony both John Powell of Barclays Commercial Bank and Steve Morgan praised the quality of entries from all of the runners-up and highly commended finalists.
Best New Business Runners-Up
The Novelty Warehouse, Wallasey, Wirral – joint runner-up awarded £5,000 The Novelty Warehouse is an online shop specialising in multi-sensory resources and toys, especially beneficial to children with special needs. The stimulating, tactile and sensory qualities of its toys play an important role in the teaching of children, unlocking their potential by promoting opportunities for development and learning through play.
The UK Foodhall Ltd, Welshpool, Powys – joint runner-up awarded £5,000 The UK Foodhall provides healthy, local food for schools. It sells mostly frozen meat products, competing with importers. Its strap-line is 'Great British Food for Great British Kids' and, serving over 10,000 schools, it is now the biggest supplier in the UK. It only supplies foods from one of the recognised farm assurance schemes that are quality, low fat, low salt, low sugar products.
Highly Commended
Healthy Paws Ltd, Formby, Merseyside Healthy Paws manufactures and supplies to wholesalers, retailers and direct, its own brand of healthy, natural dog food and treats. All the products are certified holistic by the British Association of Holistic Nutrition and Medicine.
Portland Hall Spa, Southport, Merseyside Based in the classic seaside town of Southport, Portland Hall Spa has become one of Merseyside's newest and most innovative attractions. Originally a Quaker Meeting House, then a Synagogue, this beautiful old building has been transformed into a sanctuary of peace and tranquillity. It is now a dedicated Day Spa that offers relaxation, pampering and indulgence.
Best Young Entrepreneur Runners-Up
Megan Finlinson, Finn’s Cheesecake Company, Merseyside – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 Finn's Cheesecake Company provides a range of delicious and professionally presented cheesecakes, patisserie items, celebratory items and cup cakes for all occasions. Made using high quality ingredients by a fully fledged patisserie chef, Finn's Cheesecake Company supplies restaurants, smoothie bars, patisseries and individuals throughout the Liverpool and surrounding areas.
Kathryn Holloway, Promofix Ltd, Shropshire – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 Promofix provides branded items and corporate merchandising products for clients based throughout the UK. The Promofix product range consists of inspirational ideas to make corporate promotions a success. Their promotional items are a cost effective way of promoting any company and, as a leading supplier, they have hundreds of items of available. Promofix supplies everything from pens and mousemats to eco products and they specialise in designing and manufacturing fully bespoke products.
Highly Commended
Kenneth Cheung, BEEcycle Ltd, Merseyside BEEcycle Ltd creates innovative products and services for food waste recycling and indoor gardening. Councils are forced by EU laws to collect food waste from households, resulting in odour, vermin and unsightly mess. BEEcycle Ltd makes it their business to help households understand food waste recycling and make the process easier.
Marcel Deer, Fashlink.com, Wirral Marcel is creating Fashlink.com, an online retail outlet that allows all UK fashion students to sell and showcase their work. This idea has so much potential because fashion students’ biggest problem is not being able to find an outlet for their designs. It also meets the needs of the thousands of people in the UK who want unique clothing.
Best Entrepreneurial Charity or Social Enterprise Runners-Up
Rape and Sexual Abuse (RASA) Centre, Birkenhead, Wirral – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 RASA exists to relieve the emotional and mental distress of individuals who are currently, or who have historically been, victims of sexual violence. This sexual violence may have been within a domestic situation, a close relationship or perpetrated by a stranger.
The Neuromuscular Centre (NMC), Winsford, Cheshire – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 NMC Design+Print is a social enterprise established by the Neuromuscular Centre (NMC) to tackle the problems of social exclusion and insufficient employment opportunities for people with neuromuscular conditions in the private and public sectors. The company offers graphic design and print solutions as well as promotional training courses to a wide variety of organisations, primarily in the North West, but increasingly across the country.
Highly Commended
Pictures to Share CIC, Tattenhall, Cheshire People with dementia have been completely neglected by the worlds of publishing and media. Pictures to Share CIC is a social enterprise publishing innovative illustrated books for people with dementia. These books provide desperately needed and attractive resources for people who are no longer able to enjoy traditional books or magazines, encouraging positive and meaningful communication with carers, friends and relatives.
Ellesmere Port & Neston Community Transport Ltd, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire Providing essential, affordable, accessible transport to vulnerable individuals and community groups within Cheshire West & Chester areas, Ellesmere Port & Neston Community Transport is operated by a team of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer drivers. Members are empowered to become involved in community activities and enjoy independence, while groups are able to continue running knowing they and their members have access to affordable and reliable transport.
Best Individual Entrepreneur Working in a Charity or Social Enterprise Runners-Up
Helen Bate, Pictures to Share CIC, Tattenhall, Cheshire – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 In 2004 Helen recognized that there was an unmet need for high quality and attractive books designed to be accessible for people with dementia. She carried out all the necessary research, feasibility work, fundraising and design work to get this project off the ground and to develop the first three books. Following their success she researched further funding and was awarded a grant that will allow the organisation to have a realistic chance of sustainability by 2011.
Chris Wright, The Greenfield Valley Trust Ltd, Holywell, Flintshire – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 The Greenfield Valley Trust operates a 70 acre Heritage Park and an accredited Museum of Welsh Agricultural and Industrial Heritage; preserving and promoting the environment, wildlife and heritage in the valley and museum as an educational resource for all ages and abilities. By Chris’s continuing to develop the site, through listening to visitor’s needs, he says they all thrive and the possibility of leaving a legacy to future generations becomes a certainty.
Highly Commended
Richard Davies, Marches Energy Agency, Shrewsbury, Shropshire The Marches Energy Agency’s mission is to be the 'do tank' (not a 'think tank') that delivers low carbon communities, households and organisations via demonstration, inspiration and education. The MEA is an award winning social enterprise that majors on creative, practical and effective approaches to enable the rapid uptake of sustainable energy measures (efficiency and renewables).
Best Business Providing a Social or Economic Contribution Runners-Up
Cheshire Furniture Re-use Forum, Cheshire – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 Cheshire Furniture Re-use Forum is a network of 13 independent not-for-profit social enterprises operating in Cheshire based on four main purposes: Environmental - to divert more reusable furniture from landfill; Social - to support more people in need through provision of furniture; Economic - to enhance the long term financial sustainability of members and keep money in the local economy; Regeneration - to help regenerate local communities through local training, volunteering and employment opportunities.
Walton Lea Project, Warrington, Cheshire – joint runner-up awarded £2,500 Walton Lea Project is a successful horticultural employment project providing training and life chances to more than fifty adults with learning difficulties across Warrington and beyond. It operates from two sites and integrates exceptionally well with the local community, providing regular mobile shops selling home-grown and other locally sourced produce.
Highly Commended
Cymen Cyf, Caernarfon, Gwynedd Cymen is one of the most highly respected and innovative Welsh-English translation companies in Wales and its reputation is based on quality, accuracy and meeting deadlines. It has over 300 customers ranging from local voluntary organisations to international companies, including the National Assembly for Wales, the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, the BBC, Microsoft and many others. Cymen Cyf currently employs 13 members of staff and also regularly calls upon the services of up to another 15 qualified and experienced translators.
Portland Hall Spa, Southport, Merseyside Based in the classic seaside town of Southport, Portland Hall Spa has become one of Merseyside's newest and most innovative attractions. Originally a Quaker Meeting House, then a Synagogue, this beautiful old building has been transformed into a sanctuary of peace and tranquillity. It is now a dedicated Day Spa that offers relaxation, pampering and indulgence.
Against All Odds
Highly Commended
Dan Cundall, NMC Design+Print, Winsford, Cheshire A lifelong Cheshire resident, Dan’s life is a little different from most. He has a lifelong and life limiting muscle wasting disease, muscular dystrophy, making him use a powered wheelchair. This hasn’t held him back, Dan is part of the team at the NeuroMuscular Centre, which offers physiotherapy, support, training and employment. With NMC, he started a graphic design business. The advent of computer based desktop publishing allowed them to compete against traditional pen and ink processes, while home working provided opportunities for people who could not travel. Dan’s team now numbers nine designers, including three home workers. He’s also introduced home study and has 14 students around the UK working towards accredited qualifications and potential employment.
Tom Dowling, All Together Now! Liverpool, Merseyside Tom says that when you only have your arms to get you around, you need to be adaptable and resourceful - and that being an opportunist also helps. Tom was 20 when he was put in that situation. He was shot by bandits on a trip to the Himalayas and left paralysed. However, he pushed his way back into journalism and persuaded the Liverpool Echo to publish his ground-breaking disability column. It led to the company launching a new disability magazine, with Tom as editor. When it closed seven years later, he was determined rescue it. Having lived with disability for 30 years, he was well aware of the hugely important role that the publication played in helping disabled people to lead more fulfilled lives. He left the company and created All Together Now!
Barkhad Hassan, The Hub, Wolverhampton Barkhad arrived in the UK from Somalia aged eight. Both of his parents worked and he and his siblings had a wonderful upbringing. Despite this and a good education, his world crashed around him due to drugs. Estranged from family and friends, he was on a downward spiral that ended in a prison sentence. On his release, Barkhad was determined not to return to his old lifestyle and to reach his full potential. Living in a multi-racial area, where many people spoke little or no English and a high proportion didn’t have a bank account, he correctly assumed that internet access was difficult for them. Overcoming many obstacles and armed with the idea of setting up an internet café in the heart of his estate, Barkhad convinced the Prince’s Trust to lend him the starting fund for The Hub. Nearly one year on he says that never in his wildest dreams would he have thought he would be running and managing a business, as well as providing increasingly essential IT support to the local community.
Liz Howard, The Novelty Warehouse, Wallasey, Merseyside These days you’ll find Liz knee deep in inspiring toys that wobble, flash, squish and squeak, in her online sensory store, The Novelty Warehouse, but her journey as an entrepreneur began with the discovery that her two children had special needs. After 18 years, she had to give up her job to take care of her sons with challenging behaviour, and speech and language difficulties. Needing a distraction, Liz threw herself into raising funds for their school, which inspired her to start her own internet business, specialising in exciting and affordable special needs toys.
