One of the Midlands’ largest independent accountancy firms is looking to kick-start the businesses of young entrepreneurs in the region once again.
The search is underway to find candidates for the Baldwins KickStart Young Entrepreneurs Award 2014.
Baldwins Accountants, which has eight offices across the region including in Lichfield Street, Tamworth, will be hosting the second annual KickStart Young Entrepreneurs Award gala and dinner at Villa Park on Thursday, November 20.
The event will coincide with Global Entrepreneur Week with all the profits from the evening being donated to the HelpHarryHelpOthers charity.
The winner of the 2014 award will be given a grant of £10,000 along with £10,000 worth of mentoring and accountancy advice and the two runners-up will be presented with £5,000 of mentoring and accountancy advice.
Last year, Baldwins put forward £300,000 to launch the Baldwins KickStart Programme which will provide financial support, mentoring and business advice to thirty aspiring entrepreneurs aged 18 to 25 over the next decade.
David Baldwin, who is a partner at Baldwins Accountants, said: “The award has been designed to support innovative young entrepreneurs across the region by giving them the kick-start they need to develop their business idea and take a positive step forward in their careers.
“We received a fantastic response from last year’s event which saw our three finalists take to the stage and present their business proposals with both passion and conviction.
“We continue to provide both mentoring and business support to the winners and the runners-up and we can’t wait to find out what this year’s candidates have to offer.”
He added: “We are inviting young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 25 who are enthusiastic about making a success of their business but need that kick-start to help get it off the ground.
“It is not restricted to any particular sector and everyone who enters will need to put together a business plan.
“We will then invite ten people to attend an interview and the final three will give a presentation at the awards night when we will announce the winner.”
Christos Orthodoxou from Tile Hill in Coventry and Anisa Haghdadi from Kings Norton in Birmingham were crowned as last year’s winners for their Class Careers business which specialises in connecting school leavers aged 16-19 directly to employers through live online workshops.
Chris said: “Since winning the award we have continued to develop and grow the business with the help and support of Baldwins – including hosting workshops to introduce schoolchildren to the world of accounting.
“The support has been invaluable and Baldwins have not only helped with the accounting and cash flow side of the business but have also offered ongoing support with legal contacts which has given us the confidence to approach large international companies.
“The mentoring has also been really good for bigger high-level conversations especially as we are in currently in talks to consider merging the company – while the financial support has allowed us to further develop our platform which is about to undergo a new release which is really exciting.”
Runner-up Sophie Jayne Dyde, who lives near Rugby, received £5,000 worth of business and mentoring support to develop her translation company Moustache Translation which provides translation, proof reading, editing and transcription services.
She said: “I have been working closely with Baldwins since the awards evening to develop Moustache Translation including developing contacts through networking as well as talking about routes to market and developing the Moustache brand.
“My advice to this year’s candidates would be to present yourself clearly and show conviction both in yourself and your business idea.”
Applications will open on Monday, May 5 to download an application form visit www.baldwinskickstart.co.uk. The closing date for entries is Sunday, August 31.