Member Article

Leeds Beckett University Business Advantage Awards winners announced

An online foodie hub promoting the best in Yorkshire hospitality is among the winners of this year’s Leeds Beckett University’s Business Advantage Awards.

Yorkshire Food Guide was co-founded by husband and wife team Jonathan and Tara Harris. Spotting a gap in the market, they used their knowledge gained in the hospitality sector to establish the online foodie hub. Alongside a team of expert writers, the business showcases the region’s best restaurants, foodie events, exclusive offers, news, reviews and local guides on what do and see across the region.

The business is one of three new or early-stage businesses to win a Business Advantage Award, run by Leeds Beckett University in partnership with Yorkshire legal firm Lupton Fawcett and accountants Murray Harcourt.

Each enterprise will benefit from £6,000/50hours of legal support and mentoring, as well as accountancy support.

Tara Harris said: “We’re absolutely delighted that the judges have given our company this endorsement. It is especially welcome as it comes at a time when all businesses - our own included – are continuing to rise to the challenges posed by the Coronavirus. Winning the award represents a huge opportunity for us to regroup, as well as to plan the further development and growth of the business.”

Other Business Advantage Award winners include Jonathan Boase of Lityk Consulting/AROai which specialises in providing business solutions through mobile, cloud, data, analytics and AI applications and Joanna Penkert of Finsynthesis which provides bespoke commercial finance services, bridging the gap between commercial and financial knowledge.

Established in 2015, the Business Advantage Awards are open to Leeds Beckett students and those who have graduated within the last five years, as well as to clients of the University’s Business Centres in Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax. Businesses receiving support from Ad:Venture – a European, ERDF funded programme which helps early stage businesses in the Leeds City Region to grow – are also eligible.

Jonathan Oxley, chairman and Start up-Scale-up law specialist at Lupton Fawcett said: “Working closely as we do with universities in the region to help start-up businesses through their business centres, we are delighted to support the Business Advantage Awards which promote new and entrepreneurial businesses in the region.

“Our full-service team of lawyers has considerable expertise in guiding new and early-stage businesses through the challenges that they will face. We look forward to supporting each of the three worthy winners through our bespoke package of legal expertise, mentoring and networking opportunities.”

George Lancaster at Leeds Beckett University, said: “Our annual Business Advantage Awards are a successful tool for providing tailored support for aspirational businesses. We are delighted to have the continued support of Lupton Fawcett which has provided invaluable support to 28 early stage businesses over the last four years. The standard of entries for the Business Advantage Awards are higher each year and we look forward to working with this year’s winners.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Abbott .