The Haberdashers / UEL Entrepreneurship Awards 2020 were conducted via MS Teams on Monday 13 July from 4 – 5 pm. There were 20 guests, including Haberdasher members.
Some background
Support from the Haberdashers' Benevolent Founation has helped 120 business in total, over the 15 years of the awards. There were 58 applications for the 2020 Haberdasher / UEL Entrepreneur Awards 2020. Of these, 11 were shortlisted and five awardee businesses were chosen. A big thank you to Faith Johnson, Freeman, who sat on the selection committee too!
All winning businesses received £2,000 from the Haberdashers' Benevolent Foundation, six months of 1-1 mentoring, access to business Masterclasses, three months with an intern funded by the university. The awards were described as 'transformative' for the small businesses involved.
During his introduction PVC Dr Paul Marshall noted that all UEL students, no matter what discipline, will study entrepreneurship in some form from September 2020.
The first presentation was from LDNPhysio (one of the previous year’s awardees). Nic and Mani discussed how their business had benefited from the award, one year later. They used the grant to secure a clinic room (rather than hiring on an hourly basis), decorated it themselves, purchased software to fund the business and hired another therapist for ad hoc work. Their intern was an online marketing student who helped them to build their social media presence. Their business was thriving during the coronavirus as they offered telehealth sessions, online classes and even managed to raise funds for charity through an online Personal Training group session.
Presentations from the winning businesses then followed:
Red Phoenix Films (Soner Metin)
Soner Metin is a film director, producer and writer who after graduating from UEL started his own production company, Red Phoenix Films, which offers show reels, music videos, short films, business promotions, interviews and more. After spending eight years on set taking on many different roles within the filmmaking process from supporting artists and feature roles to being in charge of his own films as director, Soner has gained the necessary knowledge and experience needed to aid other creatives in their filmmaking endeavours. He has worked with many high-profile clients such as Andy Serkis, Swarovski, Johnny Depp and more. His work has taken him around the work to work with international musicians which further enhances his ability to create. Red Phoenix Films prides itself on quality and attention to detail ensuring all customers are provided with the highest possible care whilst keeping prices lower than competitors. We operate all over London and will travel overseas if need be to ensure customer satisfaction.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, Soner has been working part-time to support the business and focusing on the UK market.
https://www.redphoenixfilms.com/
Fundwaste Ltd (Rashid Wahab)
Fundwaste was established in 2019 to change people's attitude to paper and plastic waste by delivering a waste to wealth ecosystem. Our business model places a value to each recyclable paper and plastic category. By enabling our customers realise the financial benefits of their paper and plastic, we are facilitating a transition in consumer mindset from waste to valuable commodity through our:
- Global product recycling database that shows users exactly how to separate their waste into the correct categories.
- Contamination responsive "smart waste sensor" and mobile app for our customers.
- Technology infrastructure built on a secure global IoT platform that uses machine learning and AI to deliver actionable business intelligence.
Our business offers new revenue streams, through waste, to businesses, schools and local communities. Though based in London, we see strong business development opportunities in low income environments and regions whilst strongly supporting the circular economy and climate change. We are forecasting rapid market penetration through our ecosystem over the next 12 months.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, Rashid has been adapting his current business systems and processes, so that they are in-line with the Governments regulations and guidelines in time for September/October return of the schools.
http://fundwaste.co.uk/index.html
Dreamy Bath and Melts (Jessica Roseann Wimbledon)
Established in 2019, Dreamy Bath and Melts is a luxury bath product and wax melts company which has grown rapidly in a short space of time and aims to promote the importance of self-care in a fast-paced world. Dreamy Bath and Melts is aiming to manufacture wax melts on a large scale to supply other companies with the wax melt range on a wholesale basis. With investment, Dreamy Bath and Melts aims to work towards growing to become a well-known and established company in the market of home scents and pamper products.
Prior to the Covid 19 pandemic, Jessica was selling her products to retail outlets; since the lockdown she introduced the wholesale element to her business. The trade has increased far beyond her projected targets.
https://www.dreamybathandmelts.co.uk/
AASPhysical Ltd (Andrei Alexandru Scheul)
AASPHYSICAL Limited was established in 2019, being fully functional at the beginning of 2020. The company has worked hard to provide clients with the easiest ways and least time-consuming methods to provide long-lasting results. We do currently work with clients who want to fast track their results in the process of losing weight and/or building muscle mass. Our methods are easily accessible to males and females between 20 to 50 years old who have a basic understanding of smartphone usage. We pride ourselves for using highly evidence-based resources, providing consultancy in training programs, nutrition and sports therapy. Our clients are involved in a program fully individualized to their needs (training and nutrition), having 24/7 contact with our team and weekly check-ins through which every aspect related to their progress is analysed. AASPHYSICAL aims to create an online platform in which thousands of people can enjoy the process of losing weight as opposed to find it as another struggle in their busy lifestyle.
During the Covid 19 pandemic Andrei changed the focus of his services from building muscle mass to losing weight. He also decided to develop more on-line services that supports the home environment instead of the local gym.
Pufferr Ltd (Constantin Singureanu)
We are Pufferr, one of the most awarded digital growth agencies in 2019/20. Based in London, we specialise in digital growth for companies operating in financial services, legal, wealth management and accounting. Some of the awards we won for our clients in 2019/20 include The NPA Award for Best UK Store, four Drum Agency Awards ( Creativity & Innovation, Business Transformation, Best Use of Technology Awards and a High Commendation for Best Digital Campaign), UKBA Best Insurance / Banking and Financial Company, and Disruptive Business Model (Technology), CorporateLiveWire Innovation & Excellence Award, Global Digital Excellence Award (Best Biddable Campaign). We are currently finalists for a variety of 2020 awards including Best Small Agency, Best Financial SEO Campaign, Best Integrated Agency, Best Digital Campaign, and Best Financial PPC campaign (to name just a few!). We have written four books, and provide a variety of digital growth services ranging from traditional i.e. SEO, Paid Search, Paid Social, Programmatic Display to emerging technologies i.e. Voice Applications, VR apps, Chatbots, Machine Learning and many more.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, because Constantin has loyal customers they have remained with him throughout. He has recently attracted two new clients.
It was a lively and interesting session with some challenging questions from Haberdasher members (which were well handled by the awardees).
Congratulations to the winning businesses!