Press release

The search is on for the UK’s most enterprising places

A competition opens to find the community which is most creative & successful in creating jobs, supporting start-ups & promoting enterprise

From:
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and The Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon
Published
9 April 2013
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

A competition to find the local community which is the most creative and successful in creating new jobs, supporting start-up businesses and promoting enterprise is now open.

The ‘Enterprising Britain Awards’ honour and celebrate the best public and private sector work that promotes business development in communities across the UK.

There are four categories in this year’s awards:

  • The most enterprising place in the UK.
  • The organisation that best promotes enterprise.
  • The organisation most successful in encouraging businesses to export.
  • The school/FE college in the country that is best at supporting enterprise ambition in young people.

Business and Energy Minister, Michael Fallon, said:

These awards are an opportunity to celebrate enterprise and the great work that people across this country do to make their local economy competitive and vibrant.

It is important to recognise and share the excellent work being done by entrepreneurs, local authorities, schools, colleges and businesses to create the right conditions for success so that we can compete in the global race.

This year’s Awards are being run by Young Chamber UK. Chairman, Neville Reyner said;

Young Chamber UK supports the work of a wide range of local businesses and public sector organisations to help develop the enterprise and employability skills of young people throughout the UK. We would encourage these businesses and their public sector partners to enter the ‘Enterprising Britain Awards 2013’ and take part in this nationwide celebration of all the great work and activity that is taking place throughout the country.

Last year the UK went all the way to the finals. The Cambridge based YTKO’s Outset project was awarded the European Commission’s top Grand Jury Prize - considered the most creative and inspiring entrepreneurship initiative in Europe.

Two of the four winners this year will go on to represent the UK at the ‘European Enterprise Promotion Awards’ and successful finalists will be invited to attend the Gala Dinner, held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania 14th - 15th November 2013.

The Enterprising Britain Awards are free to enter and for more information about the competition please visit http://www.enterprisingbritainawards.co.uk/

Notes to editors

  1. This edition of the Enterprising Britain Awards 2013 is being run on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills by Young Chamber.

  2. Young Chamber develops young people’s awareness and readiness of business and enterprise. Young people create their own business chamber, within the school and interface with businesses in their community. 350 have been created so far.

  3. An independent judging panel will be appointed to select the winners of each category.

  4. For more information about the awards and how to enter, visit http://www.enterprisingbritainawards.co.uk/

  5. The European Jury will award its Grand Jury Prize to the entry that is considered the most creative and inspiring initiative promoting entrepreneurship.

  6. For more information on the ‘European Enterprise Promotion Awards’: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/best-practices/european-enterprise-awards/

  7. Government is running the Business in You campaign to encourage more people to start or grow their business throughout 2013 using a range of existing support services. More information is available at www.businessinyou.bis.gov.uk

  8. The Government’s economic policy objective is to achieve ‘strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries.’ It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB), published at Budget 2011: * To create the most competitive tax system in the G20 * To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business * To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy * To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe. Work is underway across Government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the Government wants the economy to travel.

Published 9 April 2013