Julie Deane, founder of The Cambridge Satchel Company, has been nominated for the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award alongside Mark Pearson of MyVouchercodes.co.uk, Adrian Pike of Anesco, Lawrence Jones of UKFast, Christian McBride of Genuine Solutions and Colin Stevens of Better Bathrooms.
Julie founded the business in 2008 in order to raise enough money to send her two children to a private school. She had just £600 and no previous business experience.
Now a £12m-turnover company employing 70 people, the firm’s handmade leather bags are sold in 100 countries worldwide and have been worn by celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Daniel Radcliffe and Fearne Cotton. She’s also the star of the latest Google Chrome advert.
Now in their 14th year, the prestigious Growing Business Awards highlight some of the country’s most exciting, innovative and scale-able business models and have previously celebrated companies such as Innocent Smoothies, Autonomy and LOVEFiLM.
The Growing Business Awards are attended by the UK's most celebrated entrepreneurs and will take place at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square on Tuesday 27 November 2012. A total of 53 businesses and entrepreneurs are hoping to secure one of the 10 awards available.
David Richardson, Regional Managing Director of Mid Markets, Lloyds Bank Wholesale Banking & Markets in the Midlands, East and South West, said: “The breadth and quality of this year’s shortlist is astounding and it’s great to see Cambridge represented amongst the UK’s most exciting and promising businesses.
“The phenomenal growth they have achieved over recent years shows that businesses can thrive rather than just survive during a recession, but it’s crucial that they are quick to adapt to changing markets and explore all opportunities to diversify.
“We’re championing British enterprise and are eager to help more and more businesses achieve their full potential by providing the expertise, support and funding they need.”
Dr Neil Bentley, CBI Deputy-Director General, said: “The UK’s small and medium-sized firms have some of the greatest potential to grow and increase jobs, so creating the right conditions for them to do business in is critical to the health of our economy.
“The CBI is delighted to celebrate the achievements of these firms by supporting the Growing Business Awards.”
Matthew Rock, Co-Founder of Real Business, added: “Many of the shortlisted entrepreneurs started their businesses at a young age with very little capital and now employ thousands of people and turn over millions of pounds - an excellent indication of how the economy could benefit if many more people were encouraged to achieve the same feat.
“From apprentice electricians, full-time mums and PhD holders, the shortlist proves that - young or old, male or female, rich or poor - anyone can be an entrepreneur if they are prepared to work hard and take a risk.”
The awards are supported by Cass Business School, Business Voice, Professional Engineering, Land Rover, Spring Law, Your Business Your Future, Bdaily Business Network and the Financial Mail.
For more information visit: gba.realbusiness.co.uk
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Full shortlist for GBAs 2012:
Young Entrepreneur of the Year
David Barker, 4D Data Centres
Callum Bush, MediaDevil
Chris Li, Luxury for Less
Jude Ower, Playmob
Suleman Sacranie, 99p Shopper
Charlie Walker, Vivid Resourcing
Export Champion of the Year
Alaric Systems
Fever-Tree
JacTravel
Microlease
MTL Group
Tyrrells Potato Crisps
The Made in Britain Award
i2O Water
Bowman Power Group
EA Technology
Global Personals
Trunki
Company of the Year – Mid-Sized
Brainjuicer
Brand Learning
Cupid
GRITIT
UKFast
Tracsis
Company of the Year – Larger Firms
99p Stores
Halewood
Opus Energy
The Fragrance Shop
Wonga
World First
Young Company of the Year
Anesco
Climate Cars
MVF Global
Redx Pharma
Six Degrees Group
Digital Champion
Crowdcube
Everyclick
Funding Circle
Made.com
Nucleus Financial
Shutl
Entrepreneur of the Year
Julie Deane, The Cambridge Satchel Company
Lawrence Jones, UK Fast
Mark Pearson, MyVoucherCodes.co.uk
Adrian Pike, Anesco
Christian McBride, Genuine Solutions
Colin Stevens, Better Bathrooms
Innovator of the Year
First Mile
Ink
Innovate Services
MarketInvoice
MindGym
Local Hero
Askar Sheibani, Comtek
Jason Holt, Holt's Academy