Enterprising Britain 2009 Competition

Enterprising Britain is open to all places (in the UK) where the area is being transformed through enterprise.

All entrants must represent an identifiable geographic area, such as a town, a city, a parish or neighbourhood and be able to demonstrate that enterprise is central to the economic and or social transformation of the place.

Entrants must be able to show how they have affected a significant and positive change in their approach towards supporting and promoting enterprise in the last two years. There must be a clear focus on enterprise, with a specific desire to promote enterprise over and above other objectives. Entries should be able to demonstrate private sector engagement and investment as a result of their work, as well as a sustainable business model to achieve ongoing impact and longevity.

Key dates

The Northern Ireland regional heat of Enterprising Britain 2009 opens to entrants on the 09 March 2009, with the closing date for entries on the 30 April 2009. 12 regional winners from across the UK will be selected by the RDAs and Devolved Administrations by the end of May. These winners will be visited by members of the Enterprising Britain national judging panel in June or July 2009, before going forward to the national Enterprising Britain final.

Entry form

To enter the competition please download and complete the Enterprising Britain Entry Form (DOC)

All completed entry forms should be sent directly to:

Melanie Christie Boyle
Chief Executive
Ballymena Business Centre
62 Fenaghy Road
Galgorm
Ballymena
BT42 1FL

*No later than Thursday 30 April 2009

Guidelines and entry criteria

Applicants must be able to show how they have affected a significant and positive change in their approach towards supporting and promoting enterprise in the last two years. There must be a clear focus on enterprise, with a specific desire to promote enterprise over and above other objectives.

Entries should be able to demonstrate private sector engagement and investment as a result of their work, as well as a sustainable business model to achieve ongoing impact and longevity.

Applications must show what has been achieved over a two year period and should bring to life the transformation that has occurred.

Applications will need to provide an insight into the enterprise success and the strategy behind it. For example, by explaining:

• How the project meets the needs of the local community;
• How it fits with the broader regional economic development strategy and;
• How the candidate ensures sustainability in the longer term.

They will also need to provide an account of how the place has:-

• Responded to the challenges of promoting enterprise;
• Formed public and private sector partnerships to tackle those challenges;
• Ensured that its actions have had a positive impact as a result.

Candidates will be expected to show how the project has helped transform or regenerate the area. For example,with:-

• Local investment or other action to promote enterprise;
• Innovative approaches to business support;
• Steps to help existing businesses with growth potential;
• Plans to attract new investment and new businesses;
• Measures to enhance the links between educational establishments and businesses;
• Activities to promote enterprise in deprived parts of the local community;
• Initiatives to improve enterprise skills;
• Initiatives which attract new groups into enterprise (for example, young people, women, or people from black or ethnic minority groups)and;
• Initiatives that have a strong focus on social enterprise or social responsibility.

Finally, the application should demonstrate the innovative nature and inspirational value of the project – both for the Enterprising Britain competition and for the enterprise message overall (i.e. the winner of Enterprising Britain must be a good role model for others).

To aid the judging we expect entrants to provide quantitative evidence such as impact figures, number of jobs created, new businesses started and any other relevant statistics to highlight the positive change and main results their project has achieved.

Prizes

The Northern Ireland Winner will receive winner’s prize package consisting of:

• A prize fund of £5,000 provided by Invest NI that the winning entry can draw upon to purchase goods or services which will assist in the development of their business project.
• UK wide recognition of its achievements.
• Nomination to the overall Enterprising Britain Awards.
• Automatic membership of The Enterprising Places Network

For further details or if you have any queries please contact:

Melanie Christie Boyle
Ballymena Business Centre
Email:  melanie@ballymenabusiness.co.uk
Telephone: 028 2565 8616.

Graham Pollock
Invest NI
Email: graham.pollock@investni.com
Telephone: 028 9069 8169

Details of the overall UK wide Enterprising Britain Competition including case studies of previous winners can be found at www.enterprisingbritain.org