Entrepreneurs attending this year’s MADE festival in Sheffield had the chance to pitch for cash prizes to help grow their businesses.
Mitie, the FTSE 250 strategic outsourcing company, hosted two pitching events in conjunction with Sheffield Hallam University, to give budding entrepreneurs the chance to win up to £1,000 each by pitching their ideas in just two minutes.
Twenty-five contenders competed for cash over the two events in front of an audience and two judges: John Telling, Group Corporate Affairs Director at Mitie, and Tim Davidson-Hague, Director of the Centre for Facilities Management Development at Sheffield Hallam University Business School.
The broad spectrum of ideas, from social enterprise to education platforms, technology solutions to fashion design, contributed to two energetic events. Prizes of £1,000, £500, and £250 awarded at each event helped kick-start six different UK businesses, whose leading entrepreneurs displayed passion and potential when presenting their ideas.
Jane Stammers of ‘Wadsley Hall Farm Kitchen Ltd’ seized the first £1,000 prize with her ethos of locally sourced and manufactured food produce. Sam Wherrett impressed the judges in the second session with his concept, ‘Big Live Event Ltd’ – a streaming service for live music events.
Second prizes of £500 were awarded to: Street Style Surgery, a social enterprise initiative providing educational workshops to the young and under-privileged, and KLIPR, a mobile app allowing audiences to follow films from production to release.
The standard of submission was so high that the judges awarded two further prizes of £250 to Wells Marketing, who plan to produce a multi-media platform magazine exclusively for international students, and Niamh Carr, a 16 year old student from Sheffield who has taken her own fashion brand directly to market.
John Telling said: “At Mitie, we’re passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and encouraging businesses to grow. It’s fantastic to see such an array of ideas and entrepreneurial activity taking place; it’s vital that we support this to encourage continued innovation and individuality in today’s business world.”
Entrepreneurialism is at the heart of Mitie’s business and since starting 25 years ago has supported over 100 businesses to grow using its unique Mitie Model, with a 95% success rate. Mitie has created a £10m fund for new start-ups open to people from both the private and public sectors who want to run a business with Mitie’s support.
For more information on Mitie’s entrepreneurial programme, visit:
http://www.mitie.com/about-us/our-culture/entrepreneurs
For further information, contact:
MitieJohn Telling, Group Corporate Affairs Director
D: +44 20 3123 8673
M: +44 7979 701006
E: john.telling@mitie.com
Erica Lockhart, Head of Investor Relations and External Affairs
D: +44 20 3123 8675
M: +44 7979 784488
E: erica.lockhart@mitie.com
Notes for editors
Sheffield Hallam University
Centre for Facilities Management Development
The Centre for Facilities Management Development is part of Sheffield Business School and develops FM knowledge, people and practice.
The centre is at the heart of the FM community, helping organisations and individuals to capitalise on the value offered by strategic FM thinking.
Underpinned by research expertise, the centre provides high quality professional training and development, applied research and consultancy services.
Find our more at www.shu.ac.uk/cfmd
