Party business bags award and £1,000

Mar 31 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

AN innovative party bag business has scooped the top gong and £1,000 in prize money at an entrepreneur awards ceremony on Tyneside.

Gillian Gordon and Donna Hildrew were presented with the Business Viability Award at the sixth annual Northumbria University’s Blueprint Business Plan Competition Awards for their Pure Pouches business, which makes bespoke goody bags for children’s parties.

The handmade bags include fruit instead of sweets as well as ‘grow your own’ seeds and ethically sourced toys that can help to stimulate children with learning disabilities.

Gillian and Donna will now automatically go through to the Blueprint regional business plan competition, which brings together all five North East universities and showcases promising business ideas from the region's graduates and undergraduates.

The pair have already put the money to good use by purchasing IT equipment and are looking to set up their own website over the coming months.

Gillian recently completed the New Entrepreneur Scholarship Programme, which is run by Entrust in conjunction with Northumbria University's Newcastle Business School, and subsequently received an initial £1,000 to help get the business up and running.

She said: “Winning this award has given us the extra confidence to exploit a real gap in the market by providing imaginative party bags, which differentiate between genders and also consider the needs of children with allergies and disabilities.

"The prize money will definitely be put to good use. We haven't decided exactly what we are going to spend it on but it certainly will be put back into the company."

The two entrepreneurs have already visited schools to trial their bags and said that they have already received interest from children’s play centres across the region.

Donna said: “The trial bags we made up around Christmas were snapped up right away during our school visits and gave us some indication of how popular the product has become. Parents appreciate the ethical values that the bags have and I believe this will help us to stand out.”