ANTHONY MELLOR of WHITE2LABEL MANUFACTURING WINS YOUNG START-UP TALENT - SOUTH EAST 2020

Anthony Mellor - White2Label - Young Start-up Talent winner 2020

Following lots of hard work, business workshops and presentations, Young Start-up Talent (YST), an entrepreneurial initiative aimed at 16 to 25 years old, was proud to host a virtual Showcase event for the South East’s finest young entrepreneurs on Wednesday 30 September 2020. It was announced that Anthony Mellor of White2Label Manufacturing, who specialises in both white label and bespoke product services for sportswear brands was voted the overall and lucky winner of the 2020 business prize fund of products and services.

See link to the video pitches here!

Young Start-up Talent 2020 - Judges, finalists and supporters at Thales UK

Following the announcement, Anthony commented, “I am absolutely thrilled to have won this year, especially as the other finalists were such strong contenders - I wish them all the best for the future. This award is a great achievement and I look forward to working further with the YST team to progress the business further.”

Anthony now plans to continue moving forward with his business, solidifying his relationships and getting to know the business community, allowing him to strengthen White2Label Manufacturing’s offer further.

Young Start-up Talent 2020 Judges - L to R (Dave Kickham (Thales UK), John Redfern (NatWest), Ana Christie (Sussex Chamber of Commerce), John O’Mahony (Grant Thornton) and Mario Carrozzo (Caridon Property) - at the back Founding Partners - Matt Turner and Loraine Nugent

Ana Christie, CEO of the Sussex Chamber of Commerce, stated; “This has been a tough year for all businesses and particularly for young entrepreneurs just starting out. It has been brilliant to see how the candidates have continued to develop over the last six months during a very difficult and challenging time and good to see how they have taken on board all our advice moving forward”.

A fellow judge, John Redfern, Director of Corporate and Commercial South East Region - NatWest, also commented; “Anthony is a very worthy winner, all of the finalists were of very high standard. It was tough to pick a winner this year!”

The YST team worked hard to find the very best young entrepreneurs living across the South East region during the year. The successful applicants were then invited to a business workshop before they faced a selection of local business professionals in a 1-2-1 styled speed-networking, where they gained invaluable advice on how to develop both themselves and their business. From there, the candidates were whittled down to just five finalists. 

Young Start-up Talent 2020 Finalists - L to R - Ayush Sanghavi, Logan Leckie, Carmel Kalani, Anthony Mellor and Zak Lloyd

The finalists pitched their refined business plans to a panel of five judges at the offices of Thales UK. On top of this, the finalists had to hold their nerve in front of a film crew, as their pitches were recorded and shown prior to the Showcase event via YouTube. During the showcase, the final five pitched ‘virtually’ live to an audience of business professionals and heads of education via Zoom.  After an audience and judges final vote and a tense wait,  the announcement of the winner was revealed as Anthony Mellor of White2Label Manufacturing. The business specialises in both white label and bespoke product services for sportswear brands. Utilising extensive supply chain management, the business is able to offer a comprehensive bespoke service for businesses looking to produce custom garments for their brand as well as offering fast turnaround times through a white label tailored service.

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome previous winners as guest speakers to the virtual event, William Venner, Winner of YST 2019 and Harry Daymond, winner from 2017. 

The five finalists who took part in the virtual event and impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Logan Leckie - Topia

Logan Leckie, with his business ‘Topia’ - the first ever app built for the rapidly growing Financial Independence (FI) movement. Topia provides the tools, resources and structure to help it's users achieve financial independence. Through open banking users can easily track and monitor their progress while additional features allow users to see what sort of effect their spending habits are having on their timeline to financial independence. This allows users to optimise their journey and achieve financial freedom quickly and effectively.  Logan commented; “I am very excited to continue forward after learning so much from the judges and other candidates!”

Ayush Sanghavi

- Veggie Alternatives

Ayush Sanghavi, with ‘Veggie Alternatives’ - a vegan and vegetarian food directory app. The app provides users with hundreds of animal friendly substitutes for a wide selection of different food products. Users can buy products in-app, chat with others amongst numerous other features. Having recently received excellent A level results, Ayush has now started as a student at Cambridge University, “I am looking forward to expanding the app further whilst studying at Cambridge to reach even more users.”

Zak Lloyd

- DelivrMe

Zak Lloyd, with his business ‘DelivrMe’ - a revolutionary on-demand app that connects people to independent delivery contractors. The App acts as the users personal shopper, instructing our contractors to shop, pick up or drop off items for them. It’s an on-demand delivery and pickup platform. Zak stated; “Although I’m disappointed I didn’t win, I am very excited for the future of DelivrMe having recently launched a working test version of the app!”

Carmel Kalani -

Spice up your Life

And finally, Carmel Kalani with her business ‘Spice up your Life’, an app that inspireds consumers to engage with international organic spice farmers as if they were locals. Users learn how to informatively use spices, whilst consciously contributing to improving the livelihoods of the spice farmers. Carmel commented; “I feel so proud to have being selected as a finalist and learnt so much throughout the process”.

Dave Kickham, Deputy VP Industrial Operations, Thales UK, finished by adding; “It was great to continue our support for the initiative and to engage with these talented young entrepreneurs, as a whole it has been fantastic to be a part of. I am happy Anthony won, he is an extremely worthy winner.”

Finally, the Young Start-up Talent team would like to thank all the judges, sponsors and young entreprenuers who took part this year and have helped make the YST 2020 initiative to be a brilliant success. We would also like to thank the team behind the scenes, who ensured the whole process ran smoothly.

Sponsors of the initiative and who all contribute to the prize fund are as follows:

NatWest

Thales UK

Grant Thornton Accountants

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Caridon Property

Basepoint Business Centre

Fastsigns

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Crawley Borough Council

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Horsham District Council

Start-up Loans

Young Enterprise

Wildwood PR 

Creative Group

Brighton Video Production

SAVE THE DATE

Wednesday 30 September 2020 - 4.00pm

YOUNG START-UP TALENT VIRTUAL SHOWCASE

Our next Young Start-up Talent event is the South East Virtual Showcase for 2020 that will highlight the work of our young entrepreneurs.

Following a formal ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch (filmed earlier in the year and pre Covid-19) - each of the 2020 finalists will be given the opportunity for a further live pitch to the audience, with an update on their entrepreneurial journal and challenges faced during lockdown.

There will be a chance to network virtually with our finalists, judges and sponsors during the event.

The winner of the South East Region prize fund will be announced.

Please register your interest to attend the event via the email below. You will then be sent an email with the Zoom link and further details about this interactive event.

RSVP: admin@youngstartuptalent.co.uk

YST 2020 Finalists

Young Entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to Business professionals

Young Start-up Talent judges, sponsors, supporters and candidates 2020 at Basepoint Business Centre

The entrepreneurial initiative in the South East, Young Start-up Talent (YST), hosted its annual speed-networking event at Basepoint Business Centre in Crawley with a selection of young entrepreneurs from around the region, all hoping to inspire and impress business professionals from the local area. Each candidate was competing for their place in the final, bringing them one step closer to being announced as the winner of prize fund of business products and services.

Young Start-up Talent speed networking event 2020

The entrepreneurial initiative ‘Young Start-up Talent’ was first in launched at Basepoint in Crawley in 2010, some ten years ago, has since expanded across the South of England and London. With its tenth year in full swing, YST are very proud to work alongside a host of businesses, all of which support the next generation of young entrepreneurs in the South East. Sponsors for the Region include companies such as Thales UK, NatWest, Grant Thornton, Caridon Property, Basepoint Business Crawley, Gatwick Diamond Business, Crawley and Reigate Borough Councils, Sussex Chamber of Commerce, Fastsigns and many more.

Rebecca Gatinessi – Regional Manager for Basepoint and who has been part of the initiative since its inception in 2010 said “It’s always a pleasure to host this event and exciting to meet the next generation of young entrepreneurs”.

Akeel Alidina of Caradon Property and business mentor said “It’s always a good to invest time into future talent. Some inspiring ideas and with the right guidance, there is some real success stories in the making”.

New to the panel of business professionals this year is John O’Mahony, Partner at Grant Thornton who attended the event said, “We heard some great business ideas and met a group of very bright, entrepreneurial young people”. Whilst fellow judge and sponsor John Redfearn of NatWest added “I was very impressed with the entrepreneurial talent this year”.

The young business minds pitched their business ideas on a 1-2-1 basis to each of the business professionals that attended the event. The candidates had just ten minutes to convince the sponsors of the feasibility and originality of their business, whilst also showing their entrepreneurial passion and creativity.

The young entrepreneurs included:

Carmel Kalani with her business that is aimed to empower consumers to engage with international organic spice farmers, Logan Leckie - an app aimed at millennials which combines gamification and a social element to produce a highly interactive educational focus for users to learn the fundamentals of investing. Gideon Angel - a multi-service platform that allows users to outsource mundane tasks, Zak Lloyd - an on-demand app that connects people to independent delivery contractors that will act as the user’s personal shopper, Anthony Mellor, a business specialising in both white label and bespoke product services for sportswear brands and Ayush Sanghavi - a platform aimed at vegetarians that provides users with hundreds of animal substitutes for a wide selection of different food products.

Finalists, Logan Leckie commented “I found the session to be informative, engaging and learnt a great deal from the session that I hadn’t thought of before”.

Another finalist Carmel Kalani, who pitched via video conference link during the event, added “Thank you to all those involved in the Young Start-up Talent project for all the support so far - very excited for the rest of the process.”

The process will continue over the next couple of months, with the final five entrepreneurs receiving further one on one help with the creation of in-depth business plans and cash flow forecasts before their formal pitches of their businesses to the panel of judges at the offices of Thales in Manor Royal during February. The winner of the prize fund of business products and services will be announced at a showcase final on Thursday 2nd April at 7.00am at a breakfast event at Thales in Manor Royal.

To find out more about Young Start-up Talent please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk. Alternatively, if you would like to attend the showcase please RSVP to: admin@youngstartuptalent.co.uk

The Business Professionals that took part in the speed networking evening were as follows:

John Redfearn - NatWest

Dave Kickham - Thales UK

John O’Mahony - Grant Thornton

Akeel Alidina - Caridon Property

Mario Carrozzo - Caridon Property

Ana Christie - Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Simon Bland - Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Melanie Martinez - Fastsigns

Alan White - Fastsigns

Chris Lyle - NatWest

Rebecca Gatinessi - Basepoint Business Centre

Sarah Goulder  - Basepoint Business Centre

Lise Sorensen - Crawley Borough Council

Lorraine Nugent - Wildwood PR

Matt Turner - Creative Pod

Geoff Williamson - Crawley & Gatwick Chamber of Commerce

Tino Da Silva - Business First TV

Colin Tomlinson - Jubylee Bakes

Jeff Alexander - Gatwick Diamond Business Association

17 YEAR OLD WILLIAM VENNER - WINNER OF YOUNG START-UP TALENT 2019

William Venner - YST South East 2019 Prize Fund Winner

After months of hard work, business workshops and presentations, Young Start-up Talent (YST), an entrepreneurial initiative now in its ninth year, aimed at 16 to 25 years old, was proud to host their breakfast showcase for the South East’s finest young entrepreneurs at the prestigious offices of Thales in Manor Royal, Crawley on Tuesday 2nd April. It was announced that William Venner of GMod Admin Suite, current A Level student from Collyers College in Horsham, is the lucky 2019 winner of the ultimate business prize fund of products and services.

 Following the announcement, William stated, “I am absolutely amazed to be this year’s winner and would encourage anyone to enter in future years – I have learnt so much through the process and look forward to working with the YST team, judges and sponsors to help grow my business.”

William – the youngest contestant at aged just 17, first started his business GMod Admin Suite at just 14 years old, has continued to be highly successful to grow the business to currently 800 customers in over 100 countries. William has big plans, including employing others to further develop the business (once he has finished his A level exams in a few months-time). GMod Admin Suite is an online administrative gaming software business that William has developed through a well-known video game called Garry’s Mod.

Dave Kickham, Operations Director of Thales UK and long-term sponsor of the entrepreneurial initiative said; “It was good to see a diverse range of businesses this year – ranging from technology to clothing to cosmetics and well-being. I am looking forward to seeing all the finalists progress their businesses over the coming months and years.”

 All the finalists commented on the positive learning experience that they have taken from their individual journeys, together with the network of contacts they have made and the progress during the process.

 Ben Chubb – Head of National Partnerships at NatWest, commented; “William is a very worth winner, but all of the finalists were of very high standard. It was tough to pick a winner!”

Ben Chubb - NatWest

 Ana Christie, CEO of the Sussex Chamber of Commerce, stated; “It has been brilliant to see how the candidates have developed over the last few months and how they have taken on board all our advice moving forward”.

YST South East 2019 Judges and finalists at Thales showcase

 After launching this year's initiative in July of 2018, YST have worked hard to find the very best young entrepreneurs from across the South East. The successful applicants were then invited to a business workshop at Thales before they faced a selection of local business professionals in a 1-2-1 styled speed-networking at Basepoint Business Centre in Crawley, where they gained invaluable advice on how to develop both themselves and their business. From there, the candidates were whittled down to just five finalists.

The finalists pitched their refined business plans to a panel of six judges after submitting a 12-month detailed plan. On top of this, the finalists had to hold their nerve in front of a film crew, as their pitches were recorded and shown at the Showcase in addition to a two-minute live pitch during the event and an audience vote. After a tense wait, William Venner was announced as the YST South East 2019 winner.

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome previous winners and success stories as guest speakers, Samara Gidden of Haus of FLVR and winner of YST South East 2018, Harry Daymond from Kart Kompany and winner for 2017 plus now accomplished entrepreneurial speaker, shared his experiences in addition to Simon Tomlinson of Jubylee Bakes CIC, a group of young bakers with learning disabilities who won the prize fund in 2016. Simon highlighted their recent success of being chosen as finalists in the National Lottery ‘Peoples Project’.

As well as the winner, the finalists, who also impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Rebecca Fitzgerald - ‘No More Nasties’

Anthony Mellor -‘White2Label Manufacturing’

Tom Williams and Luke Baldwin - ‘Mantra Apparel UK’

Hlanganiso Matangaidze and Tom Gray of Red International Power Solutions Ltd

The YST Founders, Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner would like to wish all the finalists well and would like to encourage them to keep in touch as they all have bright entrepreneurial futures.

Finally, Young Start-up Talent would like to thank all the sponsors, judges and supporters who have helped make the YST South East initiative to be a brilliant success. We would also like to thank the YST team behind the scenes, who ensured the whole process ran smoothly.

You may like to view the video pitches of the five finalists by clicking here.

You may also like to see a short video that was filmed during the showcase event at Thales - click here.

NatWest

Thales UK

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Grant Thornton

Caridon Property Group

DMH Stallard

Bennett Christmas

Crawley & Gatwick Chamber of Commerce

Let’s Do Business Group

Young Enterprise

Beta Futures

Fast Signs

Platinum Business Magazine

Creative Pod Group

Business First TV

Wildwood PR

Federation of Small Business

Horsham District Council

Crawley Borough Council

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Brighton Video Production

Basepoint Business Centre

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Young Entrepreneurs Pitch their Business Ideas to a Panel of Influential Judges

YST Filming at Thales in Manor Royal

On Thursday 28th February, young entrepreneurs met at Thales UK, Manor Royal to pitch their final business plans to a panel of professionals in the hopes of being named the winner of the South East Entrepreneurial prize fund of business products and services.

David Kickham of Thales stated that he was “Knocked out by the enthusiasm of the candidates this year”, with Paul McConalogue, Director of Corporate and Commercial at NatWest Gatwick adding how “impressed with the passion each of the candidates showed during their presentations.”

YST Finalists 2019 - Left to right (Tom Williams, Luke Baldwin, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Anthony Mellor, Hlanganiso Matangaidze, Tom Gray and William Venner

Young Start-up Talent (YST) initially launched in Gatwick in 2010, encouraging young entrepreneurs aged between 16 - 25 years old to start their own business. Nine years on, the initiative has proven to be a great success, and is now run across the whole of the South East. Working with many local and national businesses, Young Start-up Talent award a prize fund of business products and services to one of the finalists, providing them with all the tools they need to kick-start their business. Since launching, the YST team have been blown away by the quality of young entrepreneurs that have applied for the process, with this year being no exception.

Jon Maile of Grant Thornton added “All of the candidates throughout the process have shown an impressive level of business understanding and entrepreneurial spirit. There were some great business plans and I have no doubt that all of them will go on to do great things in the future”.

After successfully making it through the first stages, the budding entrepreneurs were invited to undergo a business-know how workshop at Thales UK where they were given the opportunity to meet their fellow contestants and given feedback on their business ideas. From there, the entrepreneurs participated in a 1-2-1 styled speed-networking event with local sponsors and business professionals followed by the final five formally presenting their business to a live panel of judges and furthermore being filmed from five camera angles.

YST Judges 2019 - left to right - Dave Kickham, Jon Maile, Paul McConnalogue, Ana Christie, Tony Hyams-Parish and Mario Corrizzo with found partners Matt Turner and Lorraine Nugent at the back.

Tony Hyams-Parish of DMH Stallard “It was inspiring to see such interesting and credible business propositions. I have no doubt that all of the finalists will be enormously successful in their new business ventures. It has been a real privilege for myself and DMH Stallard to take part in this process”

On the evening at Thales, the young entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to six fiery judges, including; Dave Kickham – Operations Director - Thales UK, Paul McConalogue – Director, Corporate & Commercial Gatwick Region for NatWest, Jon Maile - Partner at Grant Thornton Accountants, Tony Hyams-Parish – Partner at DMH Stallard, Mario Carrozzo – CEO – Caridon Property and Ana Christie – CEO of Sussex Chamber of Commerce.

YST Judges 2019 - Thales

Ana Christie CEO of Sussex Chamber of Commerce said “The talent and entrepreneurial flair of all five finalists made my job as a judge extremely difficult. All of the young entrepreneurs displayed such great confidence and skill. They are all enormously talented and bright.”

New to the judging panel this year was property entrepreneur and CEO of Caridon Property, Mario Carrozzo who commented “An inspiration, seeing so many exceptional students in their element , they conducted themselves like true entrepreneurs , no matter what the results are on the day I believe they will have gained  so much from this experience it will be life changing.”

The young entrepreneurs pitching during the evening included:

Rebecca Fitzgerald

No More Nasties

Anthony Mellor

White2Label

Hlanganiso Matangaidze

& Tom Gray

RED International Power Solutions Ltd

William Venner

GMOD Admin Suite

Tom Williams & Luke Baldwin

Mantra Apparel UK

 Rebecca Fitzgerald commented “I have learnt a lot during the process and looking forward to the showcase event”.  Whilst William Venner said that he is “excited and grateful for all the advice and encouragement he has received throughout the process” and Anthony Mellor commenting “I have found the process really well planned and a valuable experience so far.”

Young Start-up Talent would like to thank Thales for hosting the event, Brighton Video Production for filming the event, Ben Chubb of NatWest for recording the voice-over of the forthcoming video and to Akeel Alidina of Caridon Property with helping to calm the nerves of the finalists and working with them on the presentations.

Akeel added “It was D Day for the contestants. There was nerves, over confidence and focus. I told them all they had nothing to lose. It was great to see a journey of growth in the contestants from the first batch of presentations! May the best future talent win…..

The winner of the Young Start-up Talent initiative for the South East will be announced on Tuesday 2nd April 2019 at Thales in Manor Royal where the audience will see a video of the formal presentation and then get to vote on their winner following live two minute pitches from each of the finalist. The judge’s and sponsors will be working with the lucky winner over the next 12 months.

To find out more please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Sponsors involved in this year’s Gatwick initiative include:

Fast Signs

Basepoint Business Centre

Grant Thornton Accountants

DMH Stallard

Caridon Property

Crawley Borough Council

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Thales Group

NatWest

Bennett Christmas

Wildwood PR

Creative Pod

Horsham District Council

Federation of Small Businesses

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Horsham District Council

Beta Futures

Business First TV

West Sussex County Times

Crawley Observer

Mid Sussex Times

South East Young Entrepreneurs Nurtured by Business Professionals

Young Start-up Talent - 2019 judges, sponsors and young entrepreneurs at Basepoint Crawley

Young Start-up Talent (YST) – the young entrepreneurial community initiative for 16-25 year-olds, now in its ninth year - hosted its annual speed-networking event at Basepoint Business Centre in Crawley. Young entrepreneurs from around the South East were all hoping to inspire and impress a host of national and local business professionals. Each candidate was competing for their place to be in the final five, bringing them one step closer to being announced as the winner of an incredible prize fund of business products and services donated by business professionals.

New to the judging panel this year and entrepreneur, Akeel Alidina of Caridon Property commented, “It was so pleasing to see a generation full of talent and entrepreneurial spirit. With the right guidance, I can see many success stories in the making.” While Mario Carrozzo CEO of Caridon Property further added “A great forum enabling the entrepreneurs to showcase and refine their business idea whilst receiving constructive criticism, mentoring and guidance from a variety of successful and experienced business people from across the South East”.

Young Start-up Talent 2019 young entrepreneurs

Ten businesses were selected to take part and voted in by the business professionals – the finalists that have been taken through to the next stages has since been announced as; Rebecca Fitzgerald, Tom Williams, Luke Baldwin, Hlanganiso Metagaidze, Antony Mellor and William Venner.

The ten business ideas were pitched on a 1-2-1 basis to each of the business professionals that attended the event. The candidates had just ten minutes to convince each of sponsors of the feasibility and originality of their business, whilst also showing their entrepreneurial passion, creativity and the ability demonstrate how their business is sustainable.

Jon Maile, Practice Partner at Grant Thornton who attended the event said, “The event was brilliant, we heard some great business ideas and met a group of very bright, brilliant young people”. Whilst fellow judge and long-term sponsor, Daryl Gayler of NatWest added “the entrepreneurial talent just gets better and better each year”.

A further addition to the judging panel for 2019 is legal sponsors DMH Stallard with experienced Employment Partner, Tony Hyams-Parish on the panel who will be joined by Ana Christie – CEO of Sussex Chamber of Commerce and long-term judge Dave Kickham – Operations Director at Thales UK with Founder Partners Matt Turner and Lorraine Nugent additionally making up the judging panel for 2019.

The young entrepreneurs pitching included:

William Venner – 17-year-old student from Collyers College in Horsham with his online software business aimed at the gaming industry.

Rebecca Fitzgerald – from Sussex University with her business ‘No More Nasties’ an e-commerce platform specialising in ‘free from’ toxins and plastic skincare products.

Conrad Manning – a passionate and qualified sailor and naval architect who is aiming to help engage, motivate and educate students into STEM careers through a series of maritime workshops.

Marley Ahmed from Croydon and first year business student from Sussex University with his media Platform ‘The Culture’, is aiming to post positive role model type stories to illustrate and inspire social change in teenagers.

Hlanganiso Metangaidsze is hoping to tackle the problem of access to electricity in third world countries by introducing and distributing solar home equipment.

Tom Williams and Luke Baldwin of Mantra Apparel – former students from Collyers College in Horsham and originally derived and expanded from a Young Enterprise group, are developing their brand of handmade and personalised leather wristbands

 Antony Mellor, fitness fanatic of White2Label Manufacturing – a fitness fashion business with bespoke and white label product design and manufacturing.

Ikenna Mirembe from Crawley and currently studying a Masters in Design in London, is creating a platform and workshops to help develop critical thinking facilitated by the study of design for school aged youngsters.

Ryan Freeman – Find-Me-Fitness – a networking website for personal trainers and those looking to get into fitness.

Jinalee De Silva – a sustainable, ethical and high-quality clothing line designed by women for women, with the aim to help combat textile fabric waste.

Candidate, Tom Williams added “Thank you to all those involved in the Young Start-up Talent project and for all the support so far - very excited for the next stages and the rest of the process.”

The process will continue over the next couple of months, with the final five entrepreneurs formally pitching their businesses to the panel of five judges at the offices of Thales in Manor Royal during February. The winner of the prize fund of business products and services will be announced at a showcase breakfast event on Tuesday 2nd April at Thales where this year for the time ever the final five will have the opportunity of a live pitch followed by an audience vote to help select the winner of this years’ prize fund.

The business representatives that took part in the speed networking evening were from a range of local and national sponsors and as follows:

NatWest

Thales UK

Grant Thornton

DMH Stallard

Grant Thornton

Caridon Property

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Fastsigns

Basepoint Business Centre

Crawley Borough Council

Beta Futures

Horsham District Council

Bennett Christmas

Wildwood PR

Creative Pod

Crawley Chamber of Commerce

Business First TV

Federation of Small Business

Brighton Video Production

 If you would like details to attend the showcase please email for more info to: admin@youngstartuptalent.co.uk.

Sisters Samara & Merissa Gidden of Haus of FLVR – win YST South East 2018 entrepreneurial prize fund

Samara and Merissa Gidden - Haus of FLVR

Young Start-up Talent (YST), an entrepreneurial initiative powered by NatWest and aimed at young entrepreneurs aged 16-25 years old, were honoured to host their South East Showcase for 2018 at Lingfield Park Resort.

After months of hard work, business workshops and presentations, it was announced that sisters Samara and Merissa Gidden of Haus of FLVR were the lucky winners of the YST South East 2018 entrepreneurial prize fund of products and services to help take their business to the next level.

Haus of FLVR is an ingenious combined concept in consuming adult beverages paired with the novelty of a traditional ice lolly by producing a contemporary range of alcohol infused products that are not only enticing, by incorporating a myriad of robust flavours, but also causing consumers to fall in love with both the execution and delivery too. The complimentary organic fruit, classic flavour combinations and elegant packaging ensures a gourmet appeal.

Following the announcement, Samara and Merissa said, “A wonderful experience filled with professionalism and knowledge. We are so grateful for the mentorship and confidence gained through talking about our business to the sponsors and judges throughout the process” The pair went on to congratulate their fellow finalists.

The duo now plans to focus on growing their business using the tools and advice given to them by Young Start up Talent, the Judges and sponsors.

See video link that was filmed at Thales and first shown during the showcase event of the finalists pitches and formal presentations.

Winners and judges of YST South East 2018

David Toulson-Burke, Executive Director of Lingfield Park Resort and hosts to the showcase event for the sixth year said: “We are once again very proud to support this fantastic initiative which encourages our young people to seek to be entrepreneurs. We meet a whole range of people here at the Resort who join us to pursue various career choices and anything that gives young people an opportunity to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace can only be a good thing.”

New to the judging panel and sponsor, Ellen Walsh of Grant Thornton commented;” My colleagues and I have been delighted to be involved in Young Start-up Talent. It has been a privilege to meet with such a group of bright young people showcasing some brilliant ideas. At Grant Thornton we know that creating a futureproof, diverse and inclusive workforce is an urgent and ongoing priority for the future of a vibrant economy and we welcome initiatives such as this that encourage and celebrate talent and initiative.

Lead sponsor and long-term judge of the initiative, NatWest with speaker Daryl Gayler, Managing Director, South Region commenting; “A lovely celebration of our local young entrepreneurs. It is always so impressive to see the passion, the creativity and the business acumen of our talented young entrepreneurs and NatWest is very proud to be supporting Young Start-up Talent.

Judge and guest speaker at the event was Dave Kickham – Operations Director of Thales further adding – “An intense process, incredible quality of ideas and great professionalism, enthusiasm and single mindedness in each of the youngsters was very impressive throughout the process.”

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome past winners to the event with some sharing their experiences to the audience such as Harry Daymond of Kart Kompany – 2017 winner of the Gatwick Diamond prize fund who said “Congratulations to winners Samara and Merissa Gidden. All the finalists had great ideas and an innovative spirit and drive for their age. They will all do well and good luck to them.”

Thanks also go to 2016 winners – Simon Tomlinson of Jubylee Bakes who supplied and handed out bakes to guests at the event.                

Also, on the judging panel and presenting at the showcase were the two founding partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner who co-presented the evening.

Finalists and Judges

As well as the winners, the other finalists, who also impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Matthew Pritchard | MPower Clothing

MPower Clothing plan to make fashion inclusive for people of all abilities by attempting to create designs that can be implemented into mainstream fashion through creating some bespoke designs. MPower Clothing plans to have a business that alters clothes for disabled people in the first instance and those who want more independence. Once the brand is established MPower will create its own range of clothes.

Mils Bangi | Student Inspire Network

Student Inspire Network is a millennial platform that educates motives and inspires students to start thinking about careers by bringing careers information to social media channels. The company create, design and deliver millennial focused video careers content that allows corporates to maximise their student reach, and showcase careers in a dynamic, student friendly manner.

Harriet Douglas | Miilkshake

MiiLKSHAKE is a multi-platform publication and community for young female creatives, from all sectors of the arts industries. The platform consists of a website, as well as an annual magazine accompaniment that will share the same values and themes of content, featuring work from a variety of young female creatives from across all sectors of the arts industry.

Joshua De Wit | Green Carbon

Green Carbon aim to deliver sustainable energy-storage systems through creating innovative, next generation battery architectures for all market sectors that will reduce the weight, charging times and packaging constraints of conventional battery systems whilst being made from abundant, lightweight and non-toxic materials.

Joshua added “I thoroughly appreciate the amount of time and effort all the sponsors and judges put into the initiative.  The advice, contacts and guidance I have received has been unparalleled, alongside being given the opportunity to hone and refine my business acumen. I believe this will put me in a much stronger position to develop my concept into a commercially-viable product.”

Founding Partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner further added "we have had a terrific year humbled to have worked alongside so many youngsters with such exciting futures ahead of them and wish them all well.”

To find out more please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk 

Sponsors of this year’s initiative included:

NatWest

Thales

Fastsigns

Brighton Video Production

Grant Thornton

Basepoint Business Centre

Structured Communications

Bennett Christmas

Federation of Small Business

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Creative Pod

Wildwood PR

Lingfield Park Resort

Crawley Borough Council

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Crawley & Gatwick Chamber of Commerce

Young Enterprise

Let’s Do Business

Platinum Business

West Sussex County Times

Beta Futures

Crawley Observer

Business First TV

Mid Sussex Times

Horsham District Council

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Laughton & Co

Brighton Video Productions

Young Entrepreneurs Pitch their Business Ideas to a Panel of Fiery Judges

YST South East 2018 Finalists

On Thursday 15th February, eleven young entrepreneurs met at Thales Group, Manor Royal to pitch their final business plans to a panel of professionals in the hopes of being named the winner of the South East Entrepreneurial prize fund of business products and services.

Young Start-up Talent (YST) initially launched in Gatwick in 2010, encouraging young entrepreneurs aged between 16 - 25 years old to start their own business. Eight years on, the initiative has proven to be a great success, and is now run across the whole of the South East and London. Working with over 140 local and national businesses, Young Start-up Talent award one lucky winner a prize fund of business products and services, providing them with all the tools they need to kick-start their business. Since launching, the YST team have been blown away by the quality of young entrepreneurs that have applied for the process, with this year being no exception.

After successfully making it through the first stage, the budding entrepreneurs were invited to undergo a business-know how workshop where they were given the opportunity to meet their fellow contestants. From there, the entrepreneurs participated in a 1-2-1 styled speed-networking event with local sponsors and business professionals. Discussions went on into the night, before only five businesses were chosen to go through to the next round, The Pitch.

YST South East 2018 Judges

On the evening, the young entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to five fiery judges, including; Daryl Gayler, Managing Director for the Southwest Region for Natwest; Ellen Walsh, Partner at Grant Thornton Accountants; David Kickham, Service and Operations Director for Thales Group; Matt Turner, CEO of Creative Pod and Co-Founder of YST and Lorraine Nugent Co-Founder of YST and Public Relations Specialist at Wildwood PR.

David Kickham stated that the was “Knocked out by the enthusiasm of the candidates” and Daryl Gayler was very “impressed with the passion each of the candidates showed during their presentations.” Ellen Walsh said that she was impressed with all the businesses presented and it was great to know that there are so many “inspirational thinkers for the future in the South East and local area.”

The young entrepreneurs pitching to be named the winner of South East 2018 included:

Harriet Douglas | Miilkshake

MiiLKSHAKE is a multi-platform publication and community for young female creatives, from all sectors of the arts industries. The platform consists of a website, as well as an annual magazine accompaniment that will share the same values and themes of content, featuring work from a variety of young female creatives from across all sectors of the arts industry.

Matthew Pritchard | MPower

MPower believe fashion can help with empowerment that has a wider affect in helping people deal with mental health issues, such as depression. MPower plans to have a business that alters clothes for disabled people in the first instance and those who want more independence. Once the brand is established MPower will create its own range of clothes.

Milimis Bango | Student Inspire Network

Student Inspire Network is a millennial platform that educates motives and inspires students to start thinking about careers by bringing careers information to social media, on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn by creating millennial focused content for the social consumer. The company create, design and deliver millennial focused video careers content that allows corporates to maximise their student reach, and showcase careers in a dynamic, student friendly manner.

Joshua De Wit | Green Carbon

Green Carbon aim to deliver sustainable energy-storage systems through creating innovative, next generation battery architectures for all market sectors that would massively reduce the weight, charging times and packaging constraints of conventional battery systems whilst being made from abundant, lightweight and non-toxic materials.

Samara & Merrissa Gidden

Haus of FLVR is an ingenious combined concept in consuming adult beverages paired with the novelty of a traditional ice lolly by producing a contemporary range of alcohol infused products that are not only enticing, by incorporating a myriad of robust flavours, but also causing consumers to fall in love with both the execution and delivery too. The complimentary organic fruit, classic flavour combinations and elegant packaging ensures a gourmet appeal.

Joshua De Wit stated that he has  “learned a lot during the process and is looking forward to the showcase event”.  Whilst Matthew Pritchard said that he is “excited and grateful for all the advice and encouragement he has received throughout the process.”

Young Start-up Talent would like to thank Ben Chubb of NatWest for the behind-the-scenes work and for ensure everything ran smoothly, from helping with the filming of the event to the AV and calming the nerves of the finalists.

The winner of the Young Start-up Talent initiative for the South East will be announced on Monday 12th March 2017 at Lingfield Park Resort. The judge’s and sponsors decision will be working with the lucky winner over the next 12 months.

To find out more please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Sponsors involved in this year’s Gatwick initiative include:

Fast Signs

Basepoint Business Centre

Grant Thornton Accountants

Crawley Borough Council

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Thales Group

NatWest

Bennett Christmas

Structured Communications

Wildwood PR

Creative Pod

Horsham District Council

Federation of Small Businesses

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Horsham District Council

Beta Futures

Lingfield Park Racecourse

Business Radio

Business First TV

Face Media Group

Laughton & Co

Johnston Press Titles in the South East

Young entrepreneurs from across the South East pitch their ideas to business professionals

Finalists, judges and sponsors at Basepoint Business Centre in Crawley

Young Start-up Talent (YST) hosted its annual speed-networking event at Basepoint Business Centre with young entrepreneurs from around the South East, all hoping to inspire and impress business professionals from the local area. Each candidate was competing for their place in the final five, bringing them one step closer to being announced as the winner of prize fund of business products and services.

The entrepreneurial initiative ‘Young Start-up Talent’ was first in launched in the Gatwick Diamond back in 2010 and has since expanded across the South of England and London. With its eighth year in full swing, YST are very proud to work alongside a host of businesses, all of which support the next generation of entrepreneurs. Sponsors for the South East Region include companies such as NatWest, Lingfield Park Racecourse, Thales Group, Grant Thornton Accountants and many, many more.

New to the panel of business professionals this year is John O’Mahony, Partner at Grant Thornton who attended the event said, “The event was brilliant, we heard some great business ideas and met a group of very bright, brilliant young people”. Whilst fellow judge and sponsor Daryl Gayler of NatWest added “the entrepreneurial talent just gets better and better each year”.

Young Start-up Talent South East 2018 finalists

Ten young business minds pitched their business ideas on a 1-2-1 basis to each of the 25 business professionals that attended the event. The candidates had just ten minutes to convince the sponsors of the feasibility and originality of their business, whilst also showing their entrepreneurial passion and creativity.

The young entrepreneurs included:

Joshua de Wit of Sussex University with his sustainable energy storage solution ‘Green Carbon’, Milimo Banji with his business ‘Student Inspire Network’ to help motivate and educate students to start thinking about their career paths, Natasha Drakakis of ‘VoiceBlog’ - an online platform to aid those with a disability to blog online using audio, Harriet Douglas of Miilkshake - a multi-platform publication and community for young female creatives, Alexander Heron with a bakery in East Grinstead, Angel Odumosa of Angel Orose - an innovative cosmetic lip range, Matthew Pritchard - an inclusive fashion and alteration brand for those with disabilities and Samara and Merrissa Gidden with Haus of FLVR - contemporary alcohol infused ice lollies.

Finalists and sisters Samara and Merissa Giddon of Haus of FLVR commented “We both found the session to be informative and engaging”.

With Milimo Banji of Student Inspire Network adding “Thank you to all those involved in the Young Start-up Talent project for all the support so far - very excited for the next stages and the rest of the process.”

The process will continue over the next couple of months, with the final five entrepreneurs formally pitching their businesses to the panel of five judges at the offices of Thales in Manor Royal during February. The winner of the prize fund of business products and services will be announced at a showcase final on Monday 12th March 2017 at Lingfield Park Resort.

To find out more about Young Start-up Talent please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk. Alternatively, if you would like to attend the showcase please RSVP to: admin@youngstartuptalent.co.uk

The Business Professionals that took part in the speed networking evening were as follows:

Daryl Gayler - NatWest

Dave Kickham - Thales UK

John O’Mahony - Grant Thornton

Ana Christie - Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Cath McDermott - Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Antony Etheridge - Structured Communications

Matt Warren - Structured Communications

Melanie Martinez - Fastsigns

Alan White - Fastsigns

Ben Chubb - NatWest

Stephanie George - Basepoint Business Centre

Lise Sorensen - Crawley Borough Council

Marie Harris - Beta Futures

Leigh Chambers - Horsham District Council

Mark Bennett - Bennett Christmas

Roger Christmas - Bennett Christmas

Lorraine Nugent - Wildwood PR

Matt Turner - Creative Pod

Geoff Williamson - FSB

Neil Laughton - Laughton & Co

Tino Da Silva - Business Radio

Leon Watson & George Foster of Savi – wins YST London entrepreneurial prize fund

Young Start-up Talent (YST), an entrepreneurial initiative powered by NatWest and aimed at young entrepreneurs aged 16-25 years old, were honoured to host their London Showcase and first Gala Dinner for 2017 at the NatWest HQ in Bishops Gate, London on Thursday 21st September 2017.

Leon Watson & George Foster of Savi

After months of hard work, business workshops and presentations, it was announced that Leon Watson & George Foster of Savi (savi-app.com) - were the lucky winners of the YST London ultimate entrepreneurial business prize fund of products and services to help take their business to the next level.

Savi, an online platform looking to disrupt the outdated loyalty card industry that allows users to accumulate loyalty points automatically when they spend through their mobile phone or by using debit/credit card driven transactional data. The app is currently being trialled in Nottingham were the duo have 30 large brands including Bella Italia and Ask Italian already signed up with a large uptake of users for the beta testing of the app which is looking to be set for success.

Following the announcement, Leon and George stated, “Unbelievable – to think a year ago this was just an idea at Uni and now we are standing here holding the prize fund with a functioning and working app.”

The pair went on to congratulate their fellow finalists. The duo now plans to focus on growing their business using the tools and advice given to them by Young Start up Talent, the Judges and sponsors.

Long term judge, mentor and accountant, Simon Maddox of Owadally & King commented; the quality of the candidates has been awesome – they are all winners in my eyes with massive potential for the winners Leon and George of Savi whom I look forward to working with.”

Dary Gayler - NatWest - speaking at the event

Lead sponsor of the event was NatWest with speaker Daryl Gayler, Managing Director, South Region commenting; “Another fantastic evening spent celebrating with the finalists of Young Start Up Talent London 2017. At NatWest we are very proud to be associated with such a great initiative - supporting, mentoring and recognising the achievements of our young entrepreneurs. I never cease to be amazed by the passion, determination and energy they display in starting up their own businesses.

Bill Morrow - Judge, Founder & CEO of Angels Den speaking at the event

Judge and also guest speaker at the event was Bill Morrow – Founder and CEO of Angels Den further adding – “Amazingly inspiring, a process where I have learnt as much from the start ups as they have from the experienced professionals. The whole experience is uplifting and one I am proud to be part of.”

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome past winners from other regions to the event with some sharing their experiences to the audience such as successful artist Stephanie Kane, Dean Day of Greenlight Games and Ben Jeffries of Influencer.   

Previous winners - left to right back row (Dean Day, Ben Jeffries, Stephanie Kane, Tom Orchard, Harry Daymond, Jeremy Mutebi Luzinda - front row - Matt Turner, Leon Watson, George Foster and Lorraine Nugent)

Also on the judging panel and presenting at the showcase this year was were the two founding partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner.

As well as the winners, the other finalists, who also impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Left to right - Akran Allam, Tade Fadairo, Leon Watson, Aftaab Allam, George Foster, Ibiere Banigo and Diana Florescu

TADE FADAIRO & KIMBERLEY MOYO | CREATIMATCH

CreatiMatch - an ideas and skills matching platform exclusively for university students. It connects students in different locations with ideas that have the willingness and expertise to contribute effectively in order to establish founding teams.

AFTAAB ALLAM & AKRAM ALLAM | ECOSMART

TheEcoSmart is the UK’s first on-demand, eco-friendly, mobile car wash app. Customers can request and Pay for all services on their app, website and over the phone. Using their eco-friendly solution with a Bespoke Nano-spraying technology and versatile branded smart cars they provide their services to customers in London. TheEcoSmart uses 93% less water than the average car wash with minimal water runoffs and no splashes.

IBIERE BANIGO | ZOO TOWN

Zoo Town is a forward thinking online platform that connects students from universities across London with employment opportunities. With more than 558,000 young students aged 18-24 in the UK facing unemployment, Zoo Town aims to tackle and change this forever. With all payments being taken online and paid directly to the student, Zoo Town aims to revolutionise the way students and employers find the jobs and support that they need.

DIANA FLORESCU | LOCAL SPOON

Local Spoon is a web application for last-minute price drops on independent restaurants in Central London. Their innovation is to merge the online last-minute services with the offline casual dining. The App is using geo-location targeting to only promote offers at tables that would otherwise remain empty – thus representing an opportunity for the business to reduce waste and reach a wider market.

The room at the showcase and Gala dinner - NatWest HQ

Founding Partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner further added "we have had a terrific year and feel humbled to have worked alongside so many youngsters with such exciting futures ahead of them and wish them all well. We would like to thank all our candidates, judges and sponsors for making it all possible as without their support and generosity Young Start-up Talent would not exist.

To find out more please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk 

Sponsors of this year’s initiative included:

NatWest

Angels Den

Gatwick Airport

Owadally & King

Wildwood PR

Minuteman Press

Croydon Chamber of Commerce

Creative Group

Creative Pod

Beta Futures

Fastsigns

Young Enterprise

Sussex Innovation

Hands On It

BVP

Nacue

Jeremy Mutebi – wins YST Hampshire entrepreneurial prize fund

Judges and finalists on stage at Winchester Science & Planetarium [Left to right - Royston Smith MP, Paul Stacey, Mat Turner, Lorraine Nugent, Ming Wu, Jonathan Tellyn, Jeremy Mutebi, Adam Stannard, Natasha Tiffin, Chris Allington, Alice Dixon, Cheryl Gourlay and Chis key.

Young Start-up Talent, an entrepreneurial initiative powered by NatWest and Oxford Innovation and aimed at young entrepreneurs aged 16-25 years old, were honoured to host their Hampshire Showcase for 2017 at Winchester Science and Planetarium Centre on Thursday 14th September 2017. After months of hard work, business workshops and presentations, it was announced that Jeremy Mutebi of J.M. Mutebi (@JeremyMutebi), an online stylist business and current student at Southampton University was the lucky winner of the ultimate entrepreneurial business prize fund of business products and services to help take the business to the next level.

Jeremy Mutebi

Following the announcement, Jeremy stated, “I am shocked to have won the prize fund with such tough competition and feeling humbled– just before the announcement I spoke to my Mum on the phone – she said that she would pray to god for a positive outcome – I believe god answered her prayers.” Jeremy went on to congratulate his fellow finalists and offered them his help and support going forward.

Jeremy now plans to focus on growing his business using the tools and advice given to him by Young Start up Talent, the Judges and sponsors.

Richard May, Innovation Director at the three Hampshire centres of Oxford Innovation, said: “Jeremy is blessed with a vibrant personality that captivates everyone he pitches his well-thought-out ideas to. He has carefully researched the menswear market in the UK, has a remarkable talent to pick out clothing combinations from high street retailers of all price points and understands how to use social media, such as Instagram, to generate customers in this growing space. We look forward to mentoring and helping Jeremy finesse his business plan and financial forecasts in the coming year.

Cheryl Gourlay – Strategic lead for young entrepreneurs for NatWest and judge commented “NatWest has a strong history of working UK-wide with young people to find, develop and unlock talent. We are passionate about helping to support young people with skills that will allow them to flourish in later life, whether that’s working for someone else or setting up their own business.

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome guest speakers Chris Allington Chairman of Oxford Innovation, Cheryl Gourlay – Strategic Lead for Young Entrepreneurs of NatWest and Royston Smith - Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen Constituency.

Royston Smith MP said “It was a privilege to be involved in this year's Young Start Up Talent. I was really impressed with all the young people that entered and particularly those that made it through to the final round. The judges found it almost impossible to choose one winner from such a talented group. However, Jeremy Mutebi impressed us all and pipped the other finalists to the post. His mixture of style, innovation and personality will, I'm sure mean we will all be seeing a lot more from him in the future and I wish him good luck on his entrepreneurial journey."

Judges with Jeremy Mutebi (centred) - left to right - Paul Stacey, Lorraine Nugent, Matt Turner, Chris Allington, Cheryl Gourlay and Royston Smith MP

Also on the judging panel this year was Paul Stacey of IQ Business Consulting Ltd -Charted Accountants, who has also worked alongside the finalists to help with their financials going through the process and said, “I have enjoyed working and listening with the high calibre contestants, all their pitches were amazing.” The other two judges were the two founding partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner.

As well as the winner, the other finalists, who also impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Ming Wu of The Makers Guild

MING WU of THE MAKERS GUILD and based in Portsmouth. The Maker’s Guild provides the opportunity to develop skills and ideas to make, innovate and collaborate within a space that facilitates making and sharing as part of a creative community. Ming said “The YST process has kicked up a gear to get things done.”

Chris Key of Designer Toolkit

TOM FOWLER & CHRIS KEY of DESIGNER TOOLKIT and based in Southampton. After spotting ways to make designers and their clients’ lives easier, The Designer Toolkit was set up, offering a suite of online tools to streamline design workflow, improve client interaction and make more money. Their products include: A brand asset management and sharing platform to ensure correct logos, fonts and colours are used. 

Natasha Tiffin & Alice Dixon of Seek A Word

NATASHA TIFFIN & ALICE DIXON of SEEK A WORD and based in Portsmouth. Seek a Word uses new technology for language communications. Their app and office seeks to provide businesses/customers with regular or singular translation. The girls commented “A mind blowing experience that really made us think deeply about the business.”

JONATHAN TELLYN & ADAM STANNARD of INNOBOX DESIGN also based in Southampton. Innobox Design is a graphic design agency based in Southampton, UK. Specialising in branding, marketing tools, 3D imagery and promotional materials. “We found that the pitching part of the process was highly beneficial – we found that also found watching and talking to the other candidates that we learnt a lot”.

Matt Turner, Jeremy Mutebi and Lorraine Nugent

Founding Partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner further added "we have had a terrific year and feel humbled to have worked alongside so many youngsters with such exciting futures ahead of them and wish them all well. We would like to thank all our candidates, judges and sponsors for making it all possible as without their support and generosity Young Start-up Talent would not exist.

To find out more please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk 

 Sponsors of this year’s initiative included:

NatWest

Oxford Innovation

UNLOC Enterprise Academy

Fareham Innovation Centre

Ocean Village Innovation Centre

Portsmouth Technopole

The News

Hampshire Chamber of Commerce

Little Kanga

1st Computer Services

Space to Trade

All Star Marketing

Splash display

Creative Pod

Media Word Waves

Southampton Solent University

IQ Business Consulting

Winchester Science & Planetarium

The Creative Group

Judges Blown Away by Ambitious Young Entrepreneurs in London as they Pitch for an Unbelievable Opportunity

On Thursday 20th July, five business professionals met at the impressive London office of NatWest in Bishops Gate, to hear from eight young entrepreneurs to give their final presentations in an attempt to win the Young Start-Up Talent prize fund of business products and services to help kick start their businesses.  

The Judges and Finalists: George Foster, Akram Allam, Phil Hall, Ibiere Banigo, Tade Fadairo, Matt Turner, Lorraine Nugent, Simon Maddox, Kimberely Moyo, Bill Morrow, Ben Chubb, Diana Florescu, Aftaab Allam and Leon Watson

The winner will be announced at a black tie showcase and gala dinner on 21st September at the NatWest offices in Bishops Gate.

The finalists were chosen following the previous speed networking event, where the semi-finalists shared their business ideas with the sponsors and judges.

Making up the judging panel for the London were: Phil Hall of NatWest, Bill Morrow of Angels Den, Simon Maddox of Owadally & King and the Young Start-Up Talent Co-Founders Matt Turner and Lorraine Nugent.

The 2017 Judges: Matt Turner, Ben Chubb, Phil Hall, Lorraine Nugent, Simon Maddox and Bill Morrow

Phill Hall of NatWest commented, “All of the finalists have done amazingly well with all showing a good balance of skills to take their businesses to the next level” whilst Bill Morrow further commented “what an amazing night and honoured to part of the judging process – five worthy businesses that all have an exciting future ahead”.

Simon Maddox of Owadally & King adding, “Everybody was professional, knew their numbers and were brilliant. The calibre of talent was incredible and there was a broad diversity between everybody. I would be happy to support all of them.

The Young Start-up Talent 2017 London finalists are as follows:

The 2017 London Finalists: Ibiere Banigo, Tade Fadairo, Leon Watson, Diana Florescu, George Foster, Kimberely Moyo, Akram Allam and Aftaab Allam

Aftaab Akram and Allam Akram, with ‘TheEcoSmart’ – UK’s first on-demand, eco-friendly, car washing app using a Bespoke Nano-spray technology and versatile branded smart cars to provide their services to customers in London. Customers can request and pay for all services through their app, website and over the phone.

Ibiere Banigo, with ‘Zoo Town’ – a forward-thinking online platform that connects students from universities across London with employment opportunities. Ibiere said, “I am grateful to have come this far, I just want to enjoy today and see where it takes me”. 

Diana Florescu, with ‘Local Spoon’ – a smart application which helps you save money with great restaurants and get rewarded for what you know best - sharing offers with your friends, writing reviews and being a loyal customer to your favourite restaurants. Diana also commented, “We are revolutionising a multi-billion dollar global industry with dynamic promotions. Restaurants have the freedom to instantly promote tables that otherwise would remain empty and to avoid throwing food once again". 

George Foster and Leon Watson, with ‘Savi’ – an app that replaces the traditional reward scheme that allows users to accumulate loyalty points automatically when they spend through their mobile phones or using debit/credit cards.

Tade Fadairo and Kimberely Moyo, with ‘CreatiMatch’ – an ideas and skills matching platform exclusively for university students. The duo said, “It went by really quickly – the questions were more grilling than expected”.

Kimberley Moyo and Tade Fadairo of CreatiMatch during their pitch

Young Start-Up Talent would like to use this opportunity to thank everyone who was working behind-the-scenes and making this event so successful. 

The 2017 London sponsors are:

NatWest

Angels Den

Owadally & King

The National Association of College & University Entrepreneurs

Croydon Advertisers

Beta Futures

Croydon Chamber of Commerce

Creative Pod

Fast signs

Frost Group

Gatwick Airport

Hands on IT

Sussex Innovation Centre

Media Word Waves

Minuteman Press

Morton Michel

Mathews Yard

Platinum Business Magazine

Structured Communications

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

Young Enterprise

Lorraine Nugent and Director of Young Start-up Talent added “the calibre for London along with the businesss plans and presentations far exceeded everyone’s expectations” and went on to say “a huge thank you to the judges, sponsors and YST team and of course the candidates for their time, commitment and energy during the process”. 

To find out more information, please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Eager Young Entrepreneurs Pitch for a Chance to Hit the Jackpot by winning a Prize Pot Worth of Business Products and Services

On Thursday 13th July, eight eager young entrepreneurs pitched to six judges at Southampton Solent University for a chance to walk away with prize pot worth of business products and services to help progress their businesses.

After previously impressing the judges at a speed networking event, the five finalists were chosen to continue their journey with the initiative and give a formal presentation of their business plans to the judges.  

The Line-up: Richard May, Paul Stacey, Ming Wu, Matt Turner, Royston Smith MP, Jonathan Tellyn, Lorraine Nugent, Adam Stannard, Natasha Tiffin, Chris Key, Alice Dixon, Tom Fowler, Caroline Barfoot, Chris Allington, Cheryl Gourlay and Jeremy Luzinda.

Caroline Barfoot – Head of Employability and Student Enterprise at Southampton Solent University said “We are delighted to be a sponsor of the competition this year and to host the finalist pitches inside the Pod at the new Spark Building. This is such an amazing opportunity for young entrepreneurs to receive feedback and support for their business start-ups from experts in their field. We are really proud that two of the businesses are from Solent University – encouraging enterprise is at the heart of everything we do and its wonderful to see students on our MA Creative Enterprise getting into the finals.

Making up the judge’s panel this year is, Chris Allington of Oxford Innovation, Cheryl Gourlay of NatWest, Royston Smith MP for Southampton, Paul Stacey of IQ Business Consulting and co-Founders of Young Start-Up Talent, Matt Turner and Lorraine Nugent.

The 2017 Hampshire Judges

Chris Allington of Oxford Innovation commented; “I was impressed by the passion, commitment and clear preparation from all those that pitched, they all demonstrated real entrepreneurial talent.”

Paul Stacey of IQ Business Consulting added; "I was amazed at how confidently the five finalists pitched for the prize pot.  We didn’t make it too easy on them - there were some tough questions from the judges.  The variety of ideas made it quite tricky to compare candidates - it was great fun and I am confident they will all go on to be a great success in the business world.”

Cheryl Gourlay of NatWest reflected on the evening, saying; “Young Start-Up talent plays a key role in the entrepreneurial landscape, celebrating those who are already on the road to success and encouraging those who are taking their first steps on the journey. It was great to see the entrepreneurial spirit, drive and enthusiasm from the Young Entrepreneurs during their pitches and I wish them all luck for the next stage.”

The budding entrepreneurs that presented and in the running for the YST Hampshire 2017 prize fund are:

The 2017 Hampshire Finalists

Tom Fowler and Chris Key, with ‘The Designer Toolkit’ – offering a suite of online tools to streamline design workflow, improve client interaction and make more money. Chris added, “I thought it was a great experience and I believe our pitch went well.”

Candidates pitching to the Judges

Ming Wu, with ‘The Maker’s Guild’ – a creative studio environment for anyone, individuals, groups and small businesses to use to create physical things using the latest in prototyping technologies, such as 3D Printers and Desktop CNC.

Jeremy Luzinda, with ‘JeremyMutebi’ – creating ensembles formed of separates from retailers meticulously put together.

Jonathan Tellyn and Adam Stannard, with ‘Innobox Design’ – a graphic design agency, specialising in branding, marketing tools and promotional materials.        

Natasha Tiffin and Alice Dixon, with ‘Seek a Word’ – an app and office to provide businesses/customers with regular or singular translation. The girls commented, “We have had such a great experience so far with our time with Young Start up. We have learnt so much!”.

Young Start-Up Talent would like to take this chance to thank those who were working behind-the-scenes to ensure that every part of the event was running smoothly.

The winner of the prize fund and the Hampshire round 2017, will be announced on Thursday 14th September at the Winchester Science and Planetarium.

The sponsors involved with this year’s Hampshire initiative are:

NatWest

Oxford Innovation

UNLOC Enterprise Academy

Fareham Innovation Centre

Ocean Village Innovation Centre

Portsmouth Technopole

The News

Hampshire Chamber of Commerce

Little Kanga

1st Computer Services

Space to Trade

All Star Marketing

Splash display

Creative Pod

Media Word Waves

Southampton Solent University

IQ Business Consulting

Winchester Science & Planetarium

The Creative Group

To find out more, please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

16 – 25 Year Olds Pitch Business Ideas to Business Professionals in London

YST London candidates and judges and sponsors of the initiative at NatWest offices in Bank, London getting ready to pitch.

Young Start-up Talent is a community-based initiative supported by NatWest for young entrepreneurs aged 16 – 25 where they can pitch their business ideas across London and the South East.  The victorious business will win a prize fund of business products and services to help kick start and progress their business.

Five businesses in the London region have now been selected from a high energy evening of speed networking and are one step closer to winning the prize fund of business products and services.

YST London speednetworking underway

Over a hundred submissions from all across London were made to Young Start-up Talent after holding workshops at schools, colleges and universities across the region. Twenty-five were then selected to attend a workshop, which led to thirteen contestants being further picked to attend the semi-finals, held at the NatWest offices in Princes Street, Bank. Five contestants out of thirteen, will go forth to pitch their ideas on the 20th of July to a panel of judges at Bishops Gate.

YST London semi finalists at the speednetworking event - NatWest offices in Bank

Twenty judges, sponsor and supporters attended the event to hear the contestant’s ideas for their start-ups.

The judges and sponsors that attended are all business professionals including Phil Hall, Nick Howe and Ben Chubb of NatWest, Alison Addy of Gatwick Airport, Alan White of Fastsigns, Terence Nell and Ricardo of Minute Man Press, Marie Harris of Beta Futures, Matt Turner of Creative Pod, Lorraine Nugent Media Word Waves, Rob Nunn Echo, Tim of BVP, Bill Marrow of Angels Den in addition to two former winners of the prize fund - Stephanie Kane and Ben Jeffries of Influencer.

Candidates came from all across London from universities such as LSE, Imperial, Brunel, Westminster and Greenwich. In addition to others that live in London but attend universities elsewhere such as Bangor, Nottingham, Lancaster, Norwich and Cambridge to present their start-ups to judges in 10 short minutes whilst others heard about the initiative through other sources.

Phil Hall, the regional director of NatWest chatting to Terence Nell of Minute Man Press.

Phil Hall, regional director of NatWest for London commented “a great evening with entrepreneurs of the future and delighted that the standard was high from this talented generation”.

Alison Addy, Head of Community Engagement for Gatwick Airport further commented “It was great to meet so many passionate young entrepreneurs during the evening. So many strong business ideas with real entrepreneurial flair”.

After much discussion and contemplating, the final five have been chosen for the next round of the competition which will be held at the NatWest offices in 250 Bishops Gate.                                                                                                

The five finalists have been named as CreatiMatch (Tade Fadairo and Kimberley Mayo), The EcoSmart (Aftaab Allam and Akram Allam), Zoo Town (Ibere Banigo), Metadrift (Nick Scweitzer) and Savi (George Foster and Leon Watson).

CreatiMatch - a student networking application that matches those with enterprise/project ideas with those who have the skills to contribute effectively and allows students to network with like-minded students across the UK.

Eco Smart is the first of its kind in the UK, an eco-friendly mobile car wash App on-demand that uses 93% less water than an average car wash.

Zoo Town provides an online platform that connects university students in London with paid employment opportunities.

Metadrift based is the first AI-powered researched tool targeted exclusively at innovators. It enables users to analyse the patterns of innovation across their industry to gain inspiration to tackle similar problems.

Savi is a platform that replaces the traditional reward scheme, providing a mobile application where loyalty points are accumulated automatically and when they spend using their mobile phone or debit/credit cards.

Stephanie Kane, the 2015 Young Start-up Talent former winner who attended the event commented “EcoSmart really shone out with having a developed app” and “MetaDrift is a really great idea that I could imagine being really useful and influential, I really wanted to play around with and use it myself”.

Edmond Mammy preparing his pitch to the judges. 

Edmond Mammy of Lend Wheels is a semi-finalist and said “Even though I am disappointed to not make it through to next round, I do not take this as a failure but rather a prelude to a great success, and grateful to take away all the valuable knowledge and skills I have obtained, that will surely benefit me in the future.”

Diana Florescu of Local Spoons, another candidate expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to take part in Young Start-up Talent and wished the “best of luck to all the other contestants that have been selected to go through the final stage”.

The other semi-finalists that took part in the speednetworking evening and made it through to this round were as follows:

Uteepi - Cyril Balay, Vishnu Menon and Sebastien Baudin

Lend Wheels - Edmond Mammy

Like Locals - Constantinos Los

Exist - Valentine Nampigga

Octam - Orlando Miller

Local Spoons - Diana Florescu and Maxim Antoci

Maple & Muffins - Abigail Davis

Sponsor My Society - Jack Culpan

Young Start-up Talent would like to thank all those that took part and wish all candidates all the best for the future.

For more information please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk.

Youngsters blaze trail by doing the business

AT THE READY: Candidates and judges outside Fareham Innovation Centre in readiness for the latest shortlist stage of the inaugural Young Start-up Talent Hampshire.

Five fledgling businesses have now been shortlisted in the search for Hampshire’s next ‘newtrepreneur’.

They were selected from nine businesses that made the semi-final round of the inaugural Young Start-up Talent Hampshire.

LINE-UP: The finalists at Young Start-up Talent Hampshire at Fareham Innovation Centre, south Hampshire. From left, Ming Wu of The Maker’s Guild, Tom Farrugia of Blue Gee, Adeola Babolola, Holly Abbott, Jonathan Tellyn of Innobox Design, Philipa Brobbey of Braids Galore,  Adam Stannard of Innobox Design, Tom Fowler and Chris Key of The Designer Toolkit, Alice Dixon of Seek a Word, Jeremy Mutebi of JeremyMutebi, and Natasha Tiffin of Seek a Word.

Business support worth up to £50,000 goes to the winner in the showcase final being held at Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium on September 14.

Potential start-ups were put through their paces by 20 judges, sponsors and supporters at Fareham Innovation Centre.

Candidates as young as 17 pitched their commercial ideas to a pair of judges in 10-minute presentation slots.

The high-pressure format was similar to last year’s Young Start-up Talent Solent, which saw £50,000 worth of business support and services won by 22-year-old Harry Phelan of Studio H in Horndean, Hampshire, who has now opened his first barber shop.

Richard May is the Innovation Director at Fareham Innovation Centre, which is home to 27 start-up and early-stage firms and is managed by competition sponsor Oxford Innovation on behalf of Fareham Borough Council said “We were impressed and inspired by how focused the candidates were on creating viable businesses.

“Some of these newtrepreneurs, given the right advice and guidance, have the potential to successfully scale up and create new jobs and inward investment.”

Judges and sponsors in attendance, including Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith, spent hours discussing which candidates had the best business ideas and showed the most entrepreneurial flair.

After deliberations they decided on a final five to take through to the next stage of the competition, due to be held at Southampton Solent University on July 13 inside the Pod, the futuristic centrepiece of its new teaching building.

Finalists were named as The Designer Toolkit (Tom Fowler and Chris Key), Innobox Design (Adam Stannard and Jonathan Tellyn), JeremyMutebi (Jeremy Mutebi), The Maker’s Guild (Ming Wu) and Seek a Word (Alice Dixon and Natasha Tiffin).

The Designer Toolkit in Southampton provides online tools to streamline design workflows, including easy access to the brand assets of companies, such as logos, and their guidelines.

Innobox Design is a graphic design agency in Southampton and JeremyMutebi, named after the founder, an economics undergraduate at the University of Southampton, is an online personal style consultant.

The Maker’s Guild in Portsmouth provides a creative engineering space for users to create physical things using the latest in prototype technologies, such as 3D printers, and Seek a Word in Portsmouth is a translation service using online technology.

The competition, open to 16 to 25-year-olds wanting to run their own ventures across Hampshire, attracted large number of submissions for this year’s intake.

Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner are the co-founders of the Young Start-up Talent initiatives across various counties in London and the South.

Lorraine said: “Fabulous to see such high number of entrants this year, with students from each of the universities taking up the challenge and thus creating a high calibre of entrants from across the region, although this has made it harder to whittle down the entrants to just five for the final.”

In a separate development, all five finalists have been offered a week’s free exhibition space at Fareham Shopping Centre by Space to Trade, which helps businesses trade in short-let space in shopping centres across the UK.

As well as Richard, Royston, Lorraine and Matt, business professionals and sponsors of the initiative that the youngsters faced during the evening included Nigel Duncan of Fareham College, Andrew Vine of NatWest, Chris Allington and Codie Summerell of Oxford Innovation, Caroline Barfoot of Southampton Solent University, Steve Dimon of 1st Computer Services, Becky Lodge of Little Kanga, Ron Wain of Deep South Media, Victoria Vickery and Rebecca Paterson of All Star Marketing, Helen Frost of Space to Trade, Carley Hawkins and Lynda Povey of Portsmouth University, Haydon Taylor of Unloc, Rob Nunn of Creative Pod and Paul Stacey of IQ Business Consulting, in addition to Harry Phelan of Studio H and winner of Young Start-up Talent Solent 2016.

For more information please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

18 year old Harry Daymond of Kart Kompany wins YST Gatwick Diamond £50k prize fund

Harry Daymond of Kart Kompany

Young Start-up Talent, an entrepreneurial initiative powered by NatWest and aimed at young entrepreneurs aged 16-25 years old, were honoured to host their Gatwick Diamond Showcase for 2017 at Lingfield Park Resort on Monday 20th March 2017. After months of hard work, business workshops and presentations, it was announced that Harry Daymond of Kart Kompany was the lucky winner of the ultimate business prize fund of products and services worth £50,000.

Following the announcement, Harry stated, “I can’t believe it. When I was waiting for Matt to announce the winner I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. I am so happy right now.”

Harry now plans to focus on growing his business using the tools and advice given to him by Young Start up Talent, the Judges and sponsors.

David Kickham – Operations Director from Thales stated “I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the process and look forward to seeing how Harry progresses from here.”

Fellow judges Matt Tyson from Richard Place Dobson and Daryl Gayler – Director of NatWest both added “we were all impressed with the talent and calibre of the candidates this year and wish them all the best for future.”

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome guest speakers JubyLee Bakes, an inspirational group of young entrepreneurs who won the YST initiative for Gatwick in 2016, and Neil Laughton, a former Royal Marine Commando and Special Forces Officer turned entrepreneur who has founded a dozen businesses.

Simon from JubyLee Bakes stated that he was “very excited to see who wins this year as he can remember how exciting it was for them”.

As well as the winner, the other finalists, who also impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Will Bower, with his company 'Royalty Three' - a viral marketing and video production company with a twist;

A group of young entrepreneurs, including; Sidney Ellis, Henry Lagrange, Daniel Wheate and Thomas Axtell with their business 'Counter Play Café', which brings people together through gaming.

Abbie Pritchard, with her food app, Nutritive that tells the consumer the specific amount of nutrients, such as fat and sugar, in their food hoping to prevent bad nutrition.

And finally, Robbie Walder and Josh Leggett, with 'Label' - an online platform that allows clothing retailers to sample their stock to young male adults;

Founding Partners of the initiative Lorraine Nugent and Matt Turner further added "we have had a terrific year and feel humbled to have worked alongside so many youngsters with such exciting futures ahead of them and wish them all well. We would like to thank all of our judges and sponsors for making it all possible as without their support and generosity Young Start-up Talent would not exist.

To find out more please visit www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk 

Sponsors of this year’s initiative included:

NatWest

Thales UK

Creative Pod

Federation of Small Businesses

London Gatwick Airport

Fastsigns

Bennett Christmas

Structured Communications

Media Word Waves

Basepoint Business Centre

Richard Place Dobson Accountants

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Platinum Business

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Pivotal Moment

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Horsham District Council

Beta Futures

Lingfield Park Resort

Lets Do Business Group

Start-up Loans

Crawley Borough Council

Beta Futures

West Sussex County Times

Crawley Observer

Mid Sussex Times

Gatwick Diamond Jobs

Future Capital LP

Young Entrepreneurs Pitch their Business Ideas to a Panel of Fiery Judges

On Thursday 16th February, eleven young entrepreneurs met at Thales Group, Manor Royal to pitch their final business plans to a panel of professionals in the hopes of being named the winner of a prize fund worth £50,000. 

GatwickDiamond Judges from left to right: Rob Nunn, Daryl Gayler, Lorraine Nugent, David Kickham, Matthew Tyson and Matt Turner

The panel consisted of David Kickham of Thales, Daryl Gayler of NatWest, Matthew Tyson of Richard Place Dobson Accountants, Rob Nunn of Future Capital and co-Founders of Young Start-up Talent Matt Turner and Lorraine Nugent.

Young Start-up Talent (YST) initially launched in the Gatwick Diamond in 2010, encouraging young entrepreneurs aged between 16 - 25 years old to start their own business. Seven years on, the initiative has proven to be a great success, and is now run across the whole of Hampshire, Sussex and London. Working with over 140 local and national businesses, Young Start-up Talent award a prize fund of business products and services worth £50k in each region, providing them with all the tools they need to kick-start their business. Since launching, the YST team have been blown away by the quality of young entrepreneurs that have applied for the process, with this year being no exception.

After successfully making it through the first stage, the budding entrepreneurs were invited to undergo a business know-how workshop where they were given the opportunity to meet their fellow contestants. From there, the entrepreneurs participated in a 1-2-1 styled speed-networking event with local sponsors and business professionals. Discussions went on into the night, before only five businesses were chosen to go through to the next round, The Pitch.

                                               Candidate pitching to the panel of Judges

David Kickham of Thales stated that he was “Knocked out by the enthusiasm of the candidiates” and Daryl Gayler of NatWest was very “impressed with the passion each of the candidates showed during their presentations.” Matt Tyson of Richard Place Dobson said that "he was enthused with all the businesses that presented and it was great to know that there are so many inspirational thinkers for the future in the Gatwick Diamond area.”

                                       Young StartUp Talent Candidates GatwickDiamond 2017

The young entrepreneurs pitching and wanting to be named the winner of Gatwick 2017 included:

Abbie Pritchard, with her food app that tells the consumer the specific amount of nutrients, such as fat and sugar in their food, hoping to prevent bad nutrition.

Harry Daymond, with 'Kart Kompany', a multi-functional event brand which provides services in the form of a vintage Kart for weddings, parties and other special occasions;

Will Bower, with his company 'Royalty Three' - a viral marketing and video production company with a twist;

Robbie Walder and Josh Leggett, with 'Label' - an online platform that allows clothing retailers to sample and hire out their stock;

And finally, a group of young entrepreneurs, Sidney Ellis, Henry Lagrange, Daniel Wheate and Thomas Axtell with their business 'Counter Play Café', which brings people together through gaming both online and the more traditional board games.

Abbie stated that she has“learned more in taking part in Young Start Up Talent than at university and she is looking forward to the final”.  Harry said that he is “excited to see who will win and is grateful for all the advise and encoragement he has received throughout the process.”

Young Start-up Talent would like to thank the behind-the-scenes team who work tirelessly to ensure everything runs smoothly, from the filming of the event to the AV and calming the nerves of the finalists.

The seventh winner of the Young Start-up Talent initiative for Gatwick Diamond will be announced on Monday 20th March 2017 at Lingfield Park Marriot Hotel and Country Club. The judge’s decision will see a lucky entrepreneur walk away with the prize fund worth up to £50,000 of business products and services.

To find out more please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk

Sponsors involved in this year’s Gatwick Diamond initiative include:

Fastsigns

Basepoint Business Centre

Richard Place Dobson Accountants

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Thales Group

NatWest 

Bennett Christmas

Structured Communications

Media Word Waves

Creative Pod

Federation of Small Businesses

London Gatwick Airport

Pivotal Moment

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Horsham District Council

Beta Futures

Lingfield Park Racecourse

Crawley Chamber of Commerce

Crawley Borough Council

Platinum Business Magazine

West Sussex County Times

Crawley Observer

Mid Sussex Times

BRIGHTON GREEKS BECOMES THE FIFTH WINNER OF YOUNG START-UP TALENT BRIGHTON AND HOVE

Young Start-up Talent Brighton - Finalists, judges and speakers at the showcase event - The Platform

After months of hard work, business workshops and presentations, Young Start-up Talent (YST), an entrepreneurial initiative aimed at 16 to 25 years old, was proud to host their fifth Showcase for Brighton’s finest young entrepreneurs at The Platform on Wednesday 15th February. It was announced that Andreas Georgiades of Brighton Greeks and current student from Sussex University is the lucky winner of the ultimate business prize fund of products and services worth £50,000.

Andreas Georgiades - Brighton Greeks - YST Brighton winner 2017

Following the announcement, Andreas stated, “I am absolutely ecstatic, in a state of euphoria! This award is going to do so much for myself and my team!”

Andreas now plans to continue moving forward with his business, solidifying his relationships and getting to know the community, allowing him to strengthen the company’s message: “To create a home away from home” for the Greek and Cypriot communities.

Gary Chown, Regional Director of Brighton and Hove for Natwest and headline sponsor for the initiative said; “It was good to see a diverse range of businesses – ranging from technology to clothing to community support. The finalists all commented on the positive learning experience that they will take from their individual journeys together with the network of contacts they have made during the competition. I am looking forward to seeing all the finalists progress their businesses over the coming months and years.”  

A fellow judge, Dan Simpson, Partner at Hartley Fowler, also commented; “Andreas is a very worth winner, but all of the finalists were of very high standard. It was tough to pick a winner this year!”

Ana Christie, CEO of the Sussex Chamber of Commerce, stated; “This has been my first year as a judge for Young Start-up Talent and it has been a fantastic experience. It has been brilliant to see how the candidates have developed over the last few months and how they have taken on board all our advice moving forward”.

After launching this year's initiative in June of 2016, YST have worked hard to find the very best young entrepreneurs living across Brighton and Hove. The successful applicants were then invited to a business workshop before they faced a selection of local business professionals in a 1-2-1 styled speed-networking, where they gained invaluable advice on how to develop both themselves and their business. From there, the candidates were whittled down to just five finalists.

The finalists pitched their refined business plans to a panel of six judges. On top of this, the finalists had to hold their nerve in front of a film crew, as their pitches were recorded and shown at the Showcase. After a tense wait, Andreas Georgiades was announced as the fifth Brighton winner with his business Brighton Greeks, which aims to create a home away from home for the Greek and Cypriot community of all generations and backgrounds in the wider Brighton area, by connecting them through a variety of services and consumer products.

Young Start-up Talent was also honoured to welcome guest speakers, Nick Musto, Founder of Radar UK and Winner of YST Brighton in 2016, Tim Hawkes from Unlimited Potential, a business development company that uses a coaching approach in all their programmes, “being around the youngsters has given me new energy!”; and Ben Jeffries, winner of YST Kent in 2016 and Founder of Influencer, a marketing agency that specialises in social media campaigns.

As well as the winner, the finalists, who also impressed the judges with their professional pitches, included:

Georgia Crawford - Daubs and Dashes

Georgia Crawford, with her business ‘Daubs and Dashes’ - an independent scarf studio with a difference. Working from their Brighton workshop, each organic, fair-trade silk scarf is hand painted with original artwork, creating a beautifully unique accessory. Georgia commented; “I am very excited to continue forward after learning so much from the judges and other candidates!”

George Lengyel of Hubbub

George Lengyel, with ‘Hubbub’ - a revolutionary social network and app that connects people at events, venues and other locations, known as hubs. “Having recently receiving funding, I am looking forward to proving my model in Brighton before expanding across the country.”

Jack Maddalena - VR Drop and Share

Jack Maddalena, with his business ‘VR Drop and Share’ - a free virtual reality platform, where you can upload your 360˚ photos allowing you to create your own VR experience. Jack stated; “Although I’m disappointed I didn’t win, I am very excited for the future!”

And finally, a group of young entrepreneurs including Ardie Yilinkou, Junior Kassim and Gabriel Meidt, with their business ‘Talentbookr’ - the first digital booking agent in the UK market. The boys commented; “We feel so good as we have learnt so much - there is no giving up over here!”

Young Start-up Talent would like to thank all the sponsors who have helped make the YST Brighton initiative to be a brilliant success. We would also like to thank the YST team behind the scenes, who ensured the whole process ran smoothly.

Sponsors of the initiative and who all contribute to the prize fund are as follows:

NatWest

Gatwick Airport

Hartley Fowler

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Bennett Christmas

Structured Communications

The Platform

Face Media Group

Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce

Jurys Inn

Brighton and Hove Jobs

Let’s Do Business Group

Young Enterprise

Sussex Innovation Centre

Beta Futures

Juice FM

Fast Signs

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Platinum Business Magazine

Best of Brighton and Hove

Latest TV

Pivotal Moment

Media Word Waves

Creative Pod

Future Capital L.P.

Young Start-up Talent Announces Exciting New Partnership with Unloc Enterprise Academy

On Tuesday 14th February, Young Start-up Talent (YST), an initiative aimed at young entrepreneurs aged between 16 - 25 years old, and Unloc Enterprise Academy, a programme to enable schools and colleges to inspire, motivate and develop the enterprising mindsets of their young people, announced a new strategic partnership. The companies will collaborate in an attempt to inspire a larger audience of young and budding entrepreneurs who need support and guidance to kick-start their own business. Through a number of business workshops provided by Unloc Enterprise Academy and the opportunity for one lucky entrepreneur to win a prize fund of business products and services worth £50,000 from YST, the companies aim to use the partnership to give young entrepreneurs throughout Hampshire all the tools they need to make it in the business world.

“Young Start-up Talent are really excited to begin this new partnership with the team at Unloc Enterprise Academy”, commented Lorraine Nugent, MD and Co-Founder of Young Start-up Talent. “This partnership will enable YST to reach a wider audience of young entrepreneurs across Hampshire, whilst working together with Unloc to inspire and encourage them to begin their own business. Sometimes the young entrepreneurs just need the help, advice and confidence to get their business off the ground, and we truly believe this partnership will provide them with all these things!”

Known throughout Hampshire's network of schools and colleges, Unloc Enterprise Academy delivers both short enterprise courses spanning over 12 weeks, as well as specific enterprise days, allowing the young students to develop their business skills.

Hayden Taylor, MD of Unloc, stated; “We’re very excited to be working collaboratively with another organisation that supports young entrepreneurs. This partnership will ensure young people get access to the best opportunities possible.”

Over the course of the next few months, both companies are looking forward to seeing how the new partnership develops and how they can encourage as many young entrepreneurs to follow their dreams of starting their own business.

About Unloc Enterprise Academy

The Unloc Enterprise Academy is a programme to enable schools and colleges to inspire, motivate and develop the enterprising mindsets of their young people. They passionately believe in enabling young people to develop their own skills through setting up and testing their own mini-businesses. Personal development is at the heart of everything Unloc does and this programme embodies that ethos. To find out more, please visit: www.enterpriseacademy.co.uk

About Young Start-up Talent

Initially launched in Gatwick in 2010, Young Start-up Talent now spans across most of the South of England, including London. The initiative, aimed at 16 - 25 year olds, aims to inspire young entrepreneurs to kick-start their business. With a prize fund of business products and services worth £50,000 given to one lucky winner in each region, YST provides the winner with all the tools they need to make their business a success. Applications are now open for Hampshire, and will close on Sunday 7th May 2017. Enter now at: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk/enter

Gatwick Diamond's Finest Young Entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to professionals

YST Gatwick Diamond candidates and sponsors at Basepoint Business Centre - Crawley

On Thursday 26th January 2017, Basepoint Business Centre hosted the Young Start-up Talent (YST) annual speed-networking event with a selection of young entrepreneurs from across the Gatwick Diamond region, all hoping to inspire and impress the business professionals that they met during the evening. Each candidate was competing for their place to be in the final five, bringing them one step closer to being announced as the winner of a prize fund of business products and services worth £50,000.

When our candidates met our sponsors...

The entrepreneurial initiative 'Young Start-up Talent' and powered by NatWest was first in launched back in 2010 in Gatwick, and has since expanded across the South of England and London. With its seventh year in full swing, YST are very proud to work alongside 140 businesses, all of which support the next generation of entrepreneurs. Sponsors for the Gatwick Diamond include companies such as London Gatwick Airport, Lingfield Park Racecourse, Thales Group, Richard Place Dobson and many, many more (see list of those involved at the end of the article).

Lisa Sorensen from Crawley Borough Council, commented; "There is some really interesting business ideas, some of them quite on trend. It is great to see youngsters feed their entrepreneurial aspirations". 

David Kickham from Thales Group and judge for this year stated; "I am very impressed with the quality of the presentations and the enthusiasm of the candidates"; whilst long-term sponsor and fellow judge, Matt Tyson of Richard Place Dobson added; "There was a good variety and culturally diverse offering of business ideas".

Nine businesses pitched their ideas on a 1-2-1 basis to each of the business professionals. The candidates had just ten minutes to convince the sponsors of the feasibility and originality of their business, whilst also showing their entrepreneurial flair, passion and creativity.

YST Gatwick Diamond semi finalists..

The young entrepreneurs included:

Will Putner and Sam Devine, both aged 16 and students from Sackville School, with their business 'Shoe Kingdom' a UK based shoe auction app.

Sean Wicks, aged 18 and at Central Sussex College with 'Project Trinity', a games developer, designer and publisher; who said, "overall the experience has been incredible, from the interaction with the judges to their feedback. It has been really useful to help assess my business and push it forward with my drive and passion".

Gideon Angell, aged 17 and also a student from Central Sussex, who is selling stylish urban baseball caps;

Robbie Walder and Josh Leggit, both aged 17 and from Southwater and former students from Collyers College, with their business 'Label', an online platform that allows clothing retailers to sample their stock to young male adults;

Abbie Pritchard, age 21 and a current third year student at Brighton University, with her revolutionary food app that reveals the amount of specific nutrients, such as fat and sugar, in food hoping to prevent bad nutrition. Abbie stated; "I have learnt more in the last 3 months by working with the Young Start-up Talent team and from the event today than I have in the last three years of University!"

Harry Daymond, age 17, with 'Kart Kompany', a multi-functional event brand which provides services in the form of a vintage Kart for weddings, parties and other special occasions; 

Ben Hickie and Archie Burrows, both aged 24 with their specialist recruitment business, 'Balmont Associates';

Will Bower, aged 23 and a graduate from Sussex University, with 'Royalty Three' - a unique viral marketing and video production company; and finally,

A group from Sackville School all aged 17 years old, including; Sidney Ellis, Henry Lagrange, Daniel Wheate and Thomas Axtell with their business 'Counter Play Café', which brings people together through gaming. Sidney Ellis commented; "it has been a very intense experience which has taught us a lot already, with plenty of things to think about for the future. The event has brought new ideas to the table that we hadn't ever considered before, but that can help us develop the business even if we do not win the prize fund."

The process will continue over the next couple of months. The judges now have to decide which five businesses will make it through to the final, where they will have to present and pitch their detailed business plans to a panel of six judges at the offices of Thales Group in Manor Royal. The winner of the prize fund of business products and services will be announced at a showcase final event on Monday 20th March 2017, at Lingfield Park Marriott Hotel, where the winners of 2016, JubyLee Bakes will give an update of their first 12 months in business and inspirational guest speakers to include Neil Laughton.

To find out more about Young Start-up Talent, please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk. Alternatively, if you would like to attend the showcase please RSVP to: admin@youngstartuptalent.co.uk.

The sponsors and judges that took part in the speed networking evening were from the following organisations:

Fastsigns

Basepoint Business Centre

Richard Place Dobson Accountants

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council

Thales Group

NatWest 

Bennett Christmas

Structured Communications

Media Word Waves

Creative Pod

Federation of Small Businesses

London Gatwick Airport

Pivotal Moment

Sussex Chamber of Commerce

Gatwick Diamond Business Association

Horsham District Council

Beta Futures

Lingfield Park Racecourse