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An entrepreneur who has gone from being unemployed to running a business turning over £250,000 a year has scooped the top prize at the Scottish leg of a competition to track down Britain's best new companies.
Craig Smith, founder of The Printed Bag Shop, was named winner of the Glasgow heat of The Pitch 2009 on Tuesday and moved one step closer to claiming £50,000 of business support including one-to-one mentoring from ex-Dragons' Den panellist Doug Richard.
Judged by a panel of experts including Jennifer Cheyne, Edinburgh entrepreneur and star of Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire, Smith fought off tough competition from five other business owners to take the title at the contest organised by BusinessZone.co.uk in association with Yell.
After being made redundant and hit by spiralling debts, Smith set up The Printed Bag Shop in 2007 with help from the Prince's Trust.
In just two years, the company, which supplies environmentally friendly printed carrier bags, has achieved impressive growth and attracted high profile clients including Coca Cola, Boots, the London Stock Exchange and Virgin Money.
Smith has plans to move into other markets, an opportunity boosted by the chance he has secured to win the top prize at The Pitch 2009 grand final in London in November.
Videos of the Scottish event, held at Barclays Wealth in Glasgow, will be available within weeks on www.BusinessZone.co.uk. The runners-up could still make it to the final as a wildcard entry by receiving the most votes from visitors to the website.
As well as Jennifer Cheyne, the judging panel included:
Craig Smith, founder, The Printed Bag Shop, comments: "It was a tough competition and I was up against some fantastic entrepreneurs so I'm delighted to have won.
"To have my business recognised by such a successful panel of judges is a real honour and the chance to win the main prize and meet entrepreneurs like Doug Richard is a money can't buy opportunity!"
The other contestants who took part in The Pitch Scotland were:
ENDS
For further information, please contact Rich Leigh, 10 Yetis Public Relations Agency on 01452 348 211, [email protected] or on Twitter @RichLeighSmith.
About The Pitch 2009
To enter The Pitch 2009, entrepreneurs must be running a UK business established for less than three years and employing no more than 20 members of staff. For more details and to enter, visit www.thepitch2009.com.
The Pitch 2009 is organised by Sift Media, publisher of BusinessZone.co.uk. The platinum sponsor is Yell. The gold sponsors are Sage and Cisco.
The competition is also backed by other organisations including Angels Den, Bristol Design Festival, eOffice, The Next Women, Business Matters, National Federation of Enterprise Agencies, 10 Yetis PR Agency, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Make Your Mark.
Heats take place as follows:
9 June: Bristol WINNER - Vibe Gum
17 June: Manchester WINNER - BEEcycle
23 June: Glasgow WINNER - The Printed Bag Shop
8 July: Birmingham
14 July: London
The final, preceded by a conference featuring business seminars, workshops and advice surgeries, will place take place during November's Enterprise Week in central London.
As well as personal one-on-one mentoring from Doug Richard, The Pitch 2009 champion will receive website consultancy donated by Sift Groups, market research services from Trends Research, a three month national and regional public relations campaign from 10 Yetis, office and meeting room facilities courtesy of eOffice and the chance to have their business plan seen by up to 2,000 investors courtesy of Angels Den.
www.thepitch2009.com/prizes.html
About BusinessZone.co.uk
Published by Bristol-based B2B publisher Sift Media, BusinessZone.co.uk is a leading online community for UK entrepreneurs providing free and practical advice on growing a successful business. The website also offers extensive opportunities for networking through discussion groups and an active forum.
About Yell
Yell is a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America through printed, online and telephone-based media. Yell's principal brands in the UK include Yellow Pages, Yell.com and 118 24 7.
Craig Smith, founder of The Printed Bag Shop, was named winner of the Glasgow heat of The Pitch 2009 on Tuesday and moved one step closer to claiming £50,000 of business support including one-to-one mentoring from ex-Dragons' Den panellist Doug Richard.
Judged by a panel of experts including Jennifer Cheyne, Edinburgh entrepreneur and star of Channel 4's The Secret Millionaire, Smith fought off tough competition from five other business owners to take the title at the contest organised by BusinessZone.co.uk in association with Yell.
After being made redundant and hit by spiralling debts, Smith set up The Printed Bag Shop in 2007 with help from the Prince's Trust.
In just two years, the company, which supplies environmentally friendly printed carrier bags, has achieved impressive growth and attracted high profile clients including Coca Cola, Boots, the London Stock Exchange and Virgin Money.
Smith has plans to move into other markets, an opportunity boosted by the chance he has secured to win the top prize at The Pitch 2009 grand final in London in November.
Videos of the Scottish event, held at Barclays Wealth in Glasgow, will be available within weeks on www.BusinessZone.co.uk. The runners-up could still make it to the final as a wildcard entry by receiving the most votes from visitors to the website.
As well as Jennifer Cheyne, the judging panel included:
- Michael Canon, head of innovation grants at the Scottish government's SMART:SCOTLAND
- Nick Price, managing director of Edinburgh-based recruitment company Bright Purple
- Craig Patterson, former board member at Young Enterprise Scotland and founder of Football Aid
- Graeme Scott, founder of information management specialists Stortext
- Bill Morrow, co-founder of Angels Den, a network which connect entrepreneurs and investors.
Craig Smith, founder, The Printed Bag Shop, comments: "It was a tough competition and I was up against some fantastic entrepreneurs so I'm delighted to have won.
"To have my business recognised by such a successful panel of judges is a real honour and the chance to win the main prize and meet entrepreneurs like Doug Richard is a money can't buy opportunity!"
The other contestants who took part in The Pitch Scotland were:
- Alan Powell, founder, Energy Mechanics (renewable energy services)
- Amanda Jones, co-founder, Red Button Design (humanitarian products for the Third World)
- Richard Burton, founder, Hood Easy (online retailer of customised clothing)
- Andy Smith, founder, Agenor Technology (creator of ICEflo implementation management software)
- Russell Young, founder, Proguard Plus (treatment system to protect the paint of luxury boats, vehicles and aircraft)
ENDS
For further information, please contact Rich Leigh, 10 Yetis Public Relations Agency on 01452 348 211, [email protected] or on Twitter @RichLeighSmith.
About The Pitch 2009
To enter The Pitch 2009, entrepreneurs must be running a UK business established for less than three years and employing no more than 20 members of staff. For more details and to enter, visit www.thepitch2009.com.
The Pitch 2009 is organised by Sift Media, publisher of BusinessZone.co.uk. The platinum sponsor is Yell. The gold sponsors are Sage and Cisco.
The competition is also backed by other organisations including Angels Den, Bristol Design Festival, eOffice, The Next Women, Business Matters, National Federation of Enterprise Agencies, 10 Yetis PR Agency, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Make Your Mark.
Heats take place as follows:
9 June: Bristol WINNER - Vibe Gum
17 June: Manchester WINNER - BEEcycle
23 June: Glasgow WINNER - The Printed Bag Shop
8 July: Birmingham
14 July: London
The final, preceded by a conference featuring business seminars, workshops and advice surgeries, will place take place during November's Enterprise Week in central London.
As well as personal one-on-one mentoring from Doug Richard, The Pitch 2009 champion will receive website consultancy donated by Sift Groups, market research services from Trends Research, a three month national and regional public relations campaign from 10 Yetis, office and meeting room facilities courtesy of eOffice and the chance to have their business plan seen by up to 2,000 investors courtesy of Angels Den.
www.thepitch2009.com/prizes.html
About BusinessZone.co.uk
Published by Bristol-based B2B publisher Sift Media, BusinessZone.co.uk is a leading online community for UK entrepreneurs providing free and practical advice on growing a successful business. The website also offers extensive opportunities for networking through discussion groups and an active forum.
About Yell
Yell is a leading international directories business operating in classified advertising markets in the UK, US, Spain and Latin America through printed, online and telephone-based media. Yell's principal brands in the UK include Yellow Pages, Yell.com and 118 24 7.
