November
19th 2014 is the date of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards
ceremony. From now until August 8th you can enter for one of the
awards. All entries are welcome: last year one of those shortlisted was a 9 year
old girl. It costs nothing to enter one or more of the various categories,
which will all have winners, and the judges will also decide on an overall
winner to be named the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year.
Support in High
Places
This
will be the second year of the awards which are sponsored by some major
businesses, including Dell and NatWest. Our outsourced bookkeepers have noted
that Sarah Shields, Dell UK’s General Manager and Executive Director for
Consumer and Small and Medium Enterprises said, “…Events
such as the Great British Entrepreneur Awards are hugely important to us as
they not only provide an opportunity for us to show our support for British
innovation, they allow us to hear directly from entrepreneurs about their
current challenges and what else we can do to help.” Peter Ibbetson, Chairman
of Business Banking, NatWest and RBS, said that the awards offer “a
great opportunity to inspire future entrepreneurs by hearing the stories
of people who’ve made a success of their ideas and built thriving businesses.”
The awards also enjoy government support. The
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock
said: “…The Great British Entrepreneur Awards are an opportunity to recognise
the dedication and successes of those with an entrepreneurial spirit and I hope
they will inspire more people to put their business ideas into practice.”
The
30 or so judges come from a wide range of backgrounds. Peter Ibbetson
(mentioned above) is among them, as are author Rachel Bridge, author of five
books about entrepreneurs; Krill Savin, Managing
Director for UK and Ireland, Kaspersky Lab; and Jenny Tooth, Chief
Executive, UK Business Angels Association.
Benefits
of Entering
Why
not confer with your bookkeepers
about what categories you should enter? If you are shortlisted, it will be
announced on September 18th. Getting involved could bring positive PR and more
awareness of your business even though the awards focus on individual
entrepreneurs rather than on their businesses. The awards have been featured in
articles in newspapers such as The Times, The Telegraph and the Huffington
Post, reaching an audience of 19 million people. Associated events also bring
networking opportunities: at the 2013 awards ceremony, 3,283 business cards
were exchanged.
So don’t be shy. You can only be
mentioned alongside the Great British Entrepreneur Awards if you enter, and
think how great it would be if you were a winner.
