Thousands of university and graduate entrepreneurs across Britain are now able to compete for nationwide recognition and a cash and mentoring prize with the launch of the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards.
The new award scheme is Lloyds Banking Group’s latest initiative to help support start-ups and growth firms. To launch the initiative, Lloyds Banking Group joined forces with the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs (NACUE) – a charity dedicated to encouraging entrepreneurial activity in universities.
The overall winner of the Awards will receive £50,000 to invest in their business and a comprehensive two-year mentoring programme, involving Senior Executives from Lloyds Banking Group, designed to provide coaching and support on critical business issues such as planning, finance, recruitment and marketing.
The Awards are open to entrepreneurs currently studying at universities across England, Scotland and Wales, or who graduated within the past five years and have been trading for more than one year. Applicants can enter the awards by visiting www.lloydstsb.com/enterpriseawards. All entrants will be considered for two titles – Best Start Up, which will be awarded to a business in its early stages; and Best Enterprise, which will be awarded to the business judged to show real potential to grow over the next five years to become a recognised SME within its respective sector.
The search for the Lloyds Enterprise Awards winners will begin with initial heats in February 2012, across six regions in England, as well as national heats in Scotland and Wales. The two winners in each of these heats will then compete for the Best Start Up and Best Enterprise awards at a grand final in March.
Marking the launch of the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards, John Maltby, Group Director, Commercial at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Britain has a proud history of enterprise and for generations our universities have played a fundamental role in nurturing business talent. We want to ensure that the talent emerging from our universities does not go unrecognised and play our part in nurturing and supporting entrepreneurs, to give them the best chance of future growth.”
Mark Prisk, Business and Enterprise Minister, said: “The Government wants to grow the next generation of entrepreneurs by ensuring that young people get hands-on experience of enterprise at college and university. I am pleased to offer my support to this project and I encourage students and graduates to take part.”
Hushpreet Dhaliwal, CEO at NACUE, added: “Our universities are home to a huge number of emerging enterprises and with the right guidance and support, these businesses could so easily be the success stories of tomorrow. We’re delighted to be working with Lloyds Banking Group, which is playing a leading role in nurturing enterprise and these awards are another example of their commitment to help businesses grow. We are proud to be part of this initiative and we look forward to celebrating the success stories that will emerge as a result.”
Published: 4 January 2012
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