Member Article

Finalists named in major business awards

Young entrepreneurs who aim to revolutionise careers talks, create Indian food from recipes which have been passed down 12 generations of a family and launch a translation company have been named as the finalists of a major £300,000 award.

Baldwins accountants – one of the region’s largest independent accountancy firms – has named Class Careers, Jacob’s Jams and Spices, and Moustache Translation as the inaugural finalists of Baldwins Kick Start.

The six-figure sum has been put forward to give financial support, mentoring and business advice to 18-to-25-year-olds over the next decade with the winner being announced at a glittering awards evening at Villa Park on Thursday, November 21.

Aston Business School graduates Christos Orthodoxou (24) and Anisa Haghdadi (23) have set-up Class Careers which connects school leavers aged 16-19 directly to employers through live webinars streamed from their offices directly to school classrooms across the country.

Jordan Bowen (19) has launched Jacob’s Jams and Spices after being the 12th generation of his family to have received recipes written in a small black journal given to his great, great grandfather Dr Ram Narunjun by the Prince of Nepal in the early 1900s.

Sophie-Jayne Dyde (23) is preparing to launch Moustache Translation to offer translation services in French, German and Spanish as well proof reading, editing and transcripts.

David Baldwin, who is a partner at Baldwins accountants, said the standard of the applicants had been extremely high and it had been difficult to whittle it down to three finalists.

“We invited eleven applicants for interviews before choosing three finalists – and it wasn’t an easy decision,” he said.

“All three businesses show great enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit and have the scope to expand further in their different sectors.

“Class Careers, Jacob’s Jams and Spices and Moustache Translation emphasise the young business brains we have in the Midlands which, with added help in terms of mentoring and receiving professional advice, could be about to embark on an exciting business future.

“We are looking forward to hearing the presentations of all the finalists and to making our final decision on the night.”

The winner of the 2013 award will be given a £10,000 grant and £10,000 worth of mentoring and accountancy advice and the two runners -up will be presented with £5,000 of mentoring and accountancy advice with all the profits from the evening being donated to the HelpHarryHelpOthers charity.

The awards will run annually for 10 years, meaning Baldwins will be handing out a total of £300,000 to aspiring entrepreneurs.

PICTURE CAPTION: David Baldwin (left) and Shaun Knight (second left) from Baldwins accountants with the Kick Start finalists (back, from the left) Jordan Bowen, Christos Orthodoxou and Sophie-Jayne Dyde and Anisa Haghdadi (front)

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Baldwins accountants .