2008 WINNER

Becky Benfield Utterly Horses

Self-taught in eCommerce, web and graphic design, aged just 16, Becky launched Utterly Horses, a website selling a huge range of models horses. She faced obstacles early on, as her young age meant she wasn’t taken seriously, and recently she had to rethink her business when a manufacturer set up its own UK operation. Undeterred, she used her creativity to expand Utterly Horses’ market share, including free gifts, imaginative packaging and online interactive channels.  Becky also runs marathons for charity and is a Special Constable with the Essex Police Service.

2008 FINALISTS

Charlotte Fudge Biccies

Whilst studying at the London College of Fashion, Charlotte spent time analysing market trends and then combined her passion for baking and business to launch Biccies, an online mail order company supplying promotional and personalised biscuits. The company also caters for bespoke offerings, such as including photographs on the biscuits, perfect for weddings, party invitations and birthday presents. Corporate clients include Virgin Holidays. 


Tara Quinney Tara Jewellery

Tara always had a passion for jewellery, and began buying and selling antique and vintage jewellery at flea markets, as well as producing her own designs which she sold at craft fairs. When leaving school, she set up Tara Jewellery, selling contemporary designs online, and then built on this success to open her first shop on her 19th birthday.   Future plans include opening further shops, designing another range of her own jewellery, and building on her service offering bespoke designs.  

 2007 WINNER

Rebecca Philipson UR In The Paper

Rebecca got the idea for her company UR In The Paper when she asked her grandfather what he would like for his birthday. He said he would like to have his name in the paper like the ones he had seen on Blackpool Pier when he was a child. Rebecca discovered a gap in the market as she couldn’t find such a gift and so decided to make one herself. Her first gift was greatly coveted and she created more for family and friends. The papers became so popular that she had to leave university and seek business advice to grow the company. Having developed the software and successfully marketed the products, Rebecca has established contracts with leading retailers, Tescos and WHSmith and is soon opening an outlet in Baker Street, London. 

 2007 FINALISTS

Rebecca Hill The Flower Shop Hythe

After attending a drama course in London, Rebecca started a career in event management, specialising in weddings, which led her to her love of floristry. Rebecca took on 2 jobs in order to save enough to set up her own florist and, at the age of 24, got her premises with just 4 weeks to get it ready in time for Christmas trade. Although she was still working elsewhere full time, Rebecca worked until the small hours getting the shop ready. The florist is now the leading flower shop in Hythe, employing three members of staff. Rebecca puts the success of the shop down to the fact that she doesn’t compromise on quality, she only sources the best products.

Gunpreet Kahlon Alpine Real Estate

Gunpreet started her career working for BA after finishing a BEng in Aerospace Engineering, however after buying her first house and then realising that prices had doubled in two years, she decided to invest in more property. She used equity from the first purchase to fund more properties and founded Alpine Real Estate in 2002, offering rental properties for private individuals, students and professionals. She now buys a house whenever there is a good deal and is inspired by her self-motivation to succeed. Gunpreet is proud of the fact that she has built the business herself and is spurred on by positive feedback from all of her tenants and has now branched into property developing, with multi-million pound developments in the pipeline.

Katy Geddes Belgravia Florist 

At a young age Katy Geddes set her heart on being a florist. However she knew that to succeed as a specialist florist shop owner she would have to come up with a truly unique selling point as many high street retail stores and supermarkets now offer flowers. Her solution was to carry a range of exclusive design-led gifts to complement customer’s fl ower purchases. Katy’s next big challenge was her age: as a 22 year old with no assets she struggled to raise finance. With some persistence and the expertise of her father’s accountant, Katy was able to make a strong enough case to raise a bank loan and purchase the florist’s business she had worked for as a student. The business has flourished under Katy’s ownership, fuelled by her vibrant, sociable personality as well as her clear understanding of her customers’ needs.

2006 FINALISTS

Sarah Green 1st for furniture Ltd

With a mature business mind and a level-headedness well beyond her years, Sarah Green defies every teenage stereotype. At just 18 she launched a furniture business, ‘1st for Furniture’, with the aim of providing corner shop service at high street prices. Using a £700 redundancy payment from her previous job – which she managed to stretch with some skilful bartering with suppliers – Sarah stocked a small barn with a limited range of high quality furniture. Having no financial backing was a considerable obstacle and she was forced to rely purely on word of mouth and return custom. Sarah initially underestimated how physically tough the delivery side of things would be: ‘solid oak furniture is extremely heavy’ she says. After six months of robust trading Sarah set up an e-commerce website and now, aged 20, her company has become one of the leading suppliers of solid oak furniture online.

Becki Train Events Northern Ltd

The events industry is heavily centred on London and Becki Train realised there was a huge gap in the market for events services in the north of Britain. With the help of a small loan from her parents, Becki set up a comprehensive events management service, Events Northern. She worked evenings and weekends in a bar for the first six months so that she didn’t need to take a wage from the company. Only two years
after setting up, Becki’s company is already well respected in the region, with an enviable list of clients. The majority of her work is now repeat business or the result of recommendations. While Becki was very conscious of her young age to begin with, nowadays she champions the idea of young people going into business, believing that if you offer a professional, quality service and have the right experience, then age is irrelevant.

2005 WINNER

Alice Shreeve Belle and Bunty

As young graduates from the London School of Fashion, Alice and her business partner Hannah were determined to create their own women's wear label. Funding tends to be limited in the competitive world of fashion and so Alice has often had to turn to freelance consultancy and grindingly long hours to sustain her business. Initial success has seen high-profile London stores and exclusive boutiques in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Belgium, Scotland and Beirut stocking the Belle and Bunty designs. With a head-turning display at this year's London Fashion Week, Belle and Bunty's designs have been described as ‘pretty, luxurious and stylish' and the Belle and Bunty brand has been tipped as ‘one to watch'. 

2005 FINALISTS

Katie Pennington-Collins K2 Greetings Limited

A passion for the unique, exotic beauty of Oriental and Pacific landscapes led Katie to create a portfolio of photographs that formed the basis for a very original range of greetings cards. Undeterred by a lack of finance, she and her cousin, Kurt, managed to raise a £30,000 loan to create their first stock of cards. But inspiring designs were not enough to prevent an initial disaster: due to a poor choice of printer the first production of 50,000 cards were commercially unacceptable. With no cards to sell, the business was in jeopardy. Bouncing back with entrepreneurial determination, a second loan and a little more industry knowledge, Katie and Kurt have succeeded in signing a deal with high-street giant, Clintons. Their aim now is to become one of the UK's top 5 greetings card publishers.


Calypso Rose Clippykit Ltd

Calypso's first bag design started life on the kitchen table, as a way of displaying her own photographs and memorabilia in a ‘portable scrapbook'. Quickly recognising that her design might have wider appeal, Calypso obtained an initial meagre loan, sourced an English plastics supplier and set up a stall on the Portobello Road in London. From a standing start, the brand now known as Clippykit has blossomed, with the likes of Jools Oliver and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson seen sporting Clippykit bags. While her bags are the kind of personal gift that's guaranteed to bring a smile to someone's face, they also have immense potential as corporate gifts as they can be easily adapted to carry a logo or strapline. Calypso's success is proof that entrepreneurial magic can be conjured up at any age.

 
2004 WINNER

Gill Chapple Bedsearcher

On leaving university at 21, Gillian Chapple started Bedsearcher, an internet booking service, in 2002. Through industry slumps and dot com depressions, Bedsearcher has emerged as one of the rare dot com success stories. Due to her youth and lack of experience, Gill was unable to secure a loan in the early stages of the business. However, Gill's hard work and determination, sometimes working over 120 hours a week, has ensured success. The company now enables online booking of nearly 8,000 UK hotels and is on target to generate booking revenues in excess of £1.5 million this year. Gill is now in the process of employing more staff to aid nationwide and European expansion. Her vision is for Bedsearcher to be the leading worldwide provider of accommodation by 2007.

2004 FINALISTS

Maria Bradshaw The Suit Company

Maria Bradshaw set up The Suit Company, dealing in Men's formal wear, in September 2003, at the age of 22. Since leaving school, Maria worked for one of her suppliers but decided to take the leap and become her own boss last year. Swapping a well paid job and a ‘hectic' social life for living with her parents and no social life has been one of the biggest hurdles for Maria. However, the business has benefited from Maria's dedication and in the past year she has hired men's suits to over 100 wedding parties and provided many more for other formal events. Keen to pass on her experiences, over the past 12 months Maria has been speaking to school leavers with the aim of encouraging more young people into entrepreneurship.


Tabitha Cameron Pedro Project

After the sudden death of her brother Peter 'Pedro' Cameron in 2002, Tabitha Cameron found that there was no service or network aimed at supporting young adults in times of bereavement. Whilst dealing with the severe effects of her own grief Tabitha took time out of university and, with the help of family and her brother's friends, and with no funding, set up the Pedro Project, a charity dedicated to providing information, advice and support to bereaved young adults. The Pedro Project assists and supports young adults of all backgrounds and differing circumstances through their own individual grieving, often dealing with mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse and self-harm in the process.  

 2003 WINNER

Mehnaz Kiran  Rivaaz Collections

Fresh out of college, Kiran set up Rivaaz Collections after recognising a gap in the market for a boutique which could provide tailor-made clothes combining traditional Asian culture with modern trends. With the advice of Burnley Enterprise Trust and the active support of her mother who runs her own beauty salon above Kiran's boutique, this 19 year-old has adopted a new set of skills to manage her business. Taking a very active role in local women's groups, she is a huge inspiration to the community where her entrepreneurial efforts to meet the needs of a multi-cultural market have broken down many traditional barriers.

 2003 FINALIST

Victoria Freight  Victoria's Mobile Chiropody

Leaving school with no qualifications, Victoria undertook a home-study course to qualify as a chiropodist and upon completing it, took the courageous step of setting up her own business - Victoria's Mobile Chiropody - at 19. Spurred on by the desire to forge her own career and not to pack cucumbers all her life, which she had to do to fund her studies, Victoria's strength of spirit and cheerful outlook has sustained her through many challenges and long hours of hard work. She has established a significant regular clientele who enjoy a caring service which she believes benefits her clients' personal well-being as well as their feet!