Member Article

Brighton businesses secure £10k boost at entrepreneurial Acceler8 event

Up and coming entrepreneurs from across Brighton won prizes totalling £10,000 at the Entrepreneurial Spark Acceler8 awards on the 10th of November.

The event, hosted by the world’s largest free business accelerator in conjunction with NatWest and KPMG, celebrated entrepreneurs across the region who have achieved recent business success.

The Acceler8 event brought together Chiclets, who are currently based at the Entrepreneurial Spark Hatchery in Brighton, with an entrepreneur enablement day focussing on leadership taking place during the day before the awards ceremony.

Entrepreneurs in the Brighton Hatchery are provided not only with expert advice and guidance on how to develop their business, but also with free office space, phones and internet, regular Temperature Checks with their dedicated Enabler and a fortnightly Wednesday #GoDoEventNight.

The entrepreneurs were given the chance to hear from business leaders Daryl Gayler, Regional Director – Sussex and Surrey, Commercial and Private Banking, at NatWest, Andy Parsons, CEO, YELO Architects and guest judge Dan Smyth, Commercial Manager from Brighton radio station Juice 107.2 throughout the evening.

Al Start and Double Six were awarded £2,000 each for the #GoDo Award, which is given to the Chiclet best demonstrating the mindsets and behaviours of a successful entrepreneur.

Winners of the Brighton pitching competition were Brighton Gin, Meme Coverture and The Mumpreneurs Network.

Following on from a successful few months, entrepreneur Melanie Lawson from Bare Biology also walked away with £3,000 to help grow her business, after winning the Acceler8 award.

Melanie Lawson, founder of Bare Biology, said: “The Acceler8 event is a fantastic opportunity to get together with the other Chiclets based in Brighton and with such great prizes up for grabs it made the day even more interesting! I’ve learnt so much already from my time at Entrepreneurial Spark and with learning days such as this, I’ve got loads more ideas on how to improve my business.”

Jim Duffy, founder and Chief Executive of Entrepreneurial Spark said: “The Acceler8 Awards are a tremendous way of rewarding the hard work and determination we see from our Chiclets across the country. The day was a fantastic way to celebrate the #GoDo attitude we see on a daily basis and I’d like to pass on my congratulations to all of the winners in Brighton”

Tim Rush, Managing Director of KPMG Enterprise in the South East, said: “The Acceler8 awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the Brighton based Chiclets, all of whom exemplify our city and region’s creativity, drive and ambition. It’s great to see the difference the Entrepreneurial Spark programme has made to the winners, and to see them in turn setting a great example to other start-ups hoping to become the big businesses of tomorrow.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .