Finalists in universities’ business contest named

Aug 21 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

THE 10 finalists in a competition seeking the best business plans linked to the North East’s universities have been named.

Entrepreneurs with ideas ranging from tailoring sport players’ shirts to selling a drink with cereal balls in it have made it through to the Blueprint Awards finals.

The competition pits business plans from students, graduates and staff of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Teesside and Sunderland universities.

The winners named at the finals, on October 23 at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead, will get a share of £75,000 in cash and in-kind support.

The competition, initially launched in 2003/04, has seen more than 130 businesses set up so far and has created more than 240 jobs in the region.

There are three award categories; the main Business Awards, Science and Technology Awards and the Creativity and Design awards. The entrants into the latter two categories will be announced at the Pilot your Pitch event on September 3.

The competition, supported by One NorthEast, was devised by Professors Max Robinson and Brian Tanner as part of the North East Centre for Scientific Enterprise project between the five universities.

This year, Max has retired from the daily running of the awards, but he will still have a key role in the Pilot your Pitch event in September. Compere for the event for the fifth year running is local TV news journalist Kim Inglis. “Every year I cannot fail to recognise that the standard of the business idea entries gets higher,” she said. “Last year Prof Brian Tanner said he would give a case of wine to the first Blueprint business that got to a £1m turnover. Let’s hope that this year’s entrants can make that happen.” One of the sponsors of the competition is regional development agency One North East. Tim Pain, its head of business, enterprise and skills, said: “North East England’s five universities are at the heart of the Regional Economic Strategy, which highlights the importance of graduates in increasing the size of our business stock.

“But developing a more enterprising culture among our graduates isn’t just about creating more new businesses – employers are also demanding those enterprising skills, as they seek to be as productive and efficient as possible.

“The Blueprint awards are a celebration of the enterprise talent emerging from our universities and we look forward to another exciting competition.”