Young Entrepreneur Award
Norfolk County Council's Daniel Cox talks about the Young Entrepreneur Award
Simon Doidge, Passion Automotive
This is the second year that we have sponsored the Young Entrepreneur Award. A special category designed to help find the best young business man or woman who is just starting out in their business career. We're looking for a real star of the future.
To enter the category you need to be aged between 16 and 25 and to have been trading for at least six months and under five years.
Growth potential, innovation, initiative shown and clarity of vision will form part of the judges' selection criteria. They will also be looking at obstacles you have overcome, the strength of your business plan and in particular the attention paid to market research.
2009 Winner
Hoodeasy - Richard Burton, managing director:- "Winning the Young Entrepreneur category of the EDP Business Awards would be awesome. End of story"2009 Finalists
Richard Burton – HoodeasyRichard started selling custom personalised clothing whilst studying at Edinburgh University. Demand for the clothing was overwhelming so Richard decided to suspend his studies and develop Hoodeasy. The company makes it easier for university and school groups/societies to order quality personalised clothing. The ordering system is made simple through online shops and all clients are provided with free digital previews of their clothes before they are purchased. Richard uses online social media marketing techniques to raise awareness and has built up strong supplier relationships. With a network of part-time sales reps at universities across the UK, Hoodeasy is on course to expand the business significantly this year.
Graham Gannon - Lime Websites
Graham is co-founder and managing director of Lime Websites – a digital company that develops web solutions for businesses. Graham started the business whilst studying at the University of East Anglia and has worked with a number of local and regional clients delivering a variety of online solutions, including content management systems, e-commerce and online marketing. Graham is also developing new products around online event management and has created an educational business game for schoolchildren. He is passionate about education and volunteers a lot of his time working with the Norfolk Network on school enterprise activities.
Charlie Webster – Albatross Villas
Charlie Webster, a finalist in the young entrepreneur award last year, founded Albatross Villas in 2005. Since the company’s inception, it has expanded rapidly, specialising in holiday rentals and new property sales on the Silver Coast in Portugal. Charlie has recently developed an impressive new website with improved property search and availability functions which has, in turn, dramatically increased visitors to the site. Charlie is looking to improve the website further by developing an online booking system. Albatross Villas is also exploring business opportunities in the UK and is considering forming partnerships with other holiday operators.
Sponsored by:
Norfolk County Council has always placed the support of enterprise high on its agenda. Through the activities it has established or supported in partnership with others, it has helped hundreds of new businesses to get off the ground. It also places great emphasis on embedding the importance of enterprise on young people through supporting a number of projects across Norfolk's schools as part of the work related learning agenda. Thousands of students of all ages are now engaged in a wide range of activities related to enterprise every year.
We want to encourage more of our young people to aspire to running their own business, not only because of the rewards we know it will bring them, but also because an enterprising economy is a successful economy.
We know there are many young entrepreneurs who are running really successful businesses across the county and we want to recognise and celebrate some of the best examples. We also hope it will inspire more of our young talent to explore the endless possibilities and rewards that pursuing a path of enterprise can bring.