The New Year continued with even more momentum than 2014 for start-up accelerator Entrepreneurial Spark.
The Entrepreneuring Awards
As part of Muckle Media’s PR support, the team’s first job was the Entrepreneuring Awards. Held in Glasgow on the 9th of January, the night celebrated the best of the UK’s entrepreneurial talent. The awards featured an address by guest speaker, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Sir Tom Hunter and a pitching competition where Entrepreneurial Spark entrepreneurs could pitch to the panel for the chance to win spot prizes. Celebrating the great achievements of the UK’s entrepreneurs, the night aimed to provide them with funding to continue their good work.
Entrepreneurial Spark announces record results
To coincide with the Entrepreneuring Awards, Muckle Media announced Entrepreneurial Spark’s results for 2014, in which the incubator smashed its previous records for job creation, investment and turnover. Through Entrepreneurial Spark support, firms have created more than 1,000 jobs – almost double the 520 created in its first two years of business. Total turnover for supported firms also rocketed to £41million at the end of 2014; trebling the £15,676,000 achieved during 2012 and 2013. Investment in supported start-ups also increased by £10 million, from a total of £8,047,000 achieved by the end of 2013 to more than £18 million at the end of 2014.
Jim Duffy, Entrepreneurial Spark CEO, commented:
“2014 saw a step change in our expediential growth as RBS agreed an exciting partnership to take the best practise from Scotland to the rest of the UK, and these Scotland numbers show the sheer potential that Entrepreneurial Spark has to engage, excite and, most importantly, accelerate budding entrepreneurs across the country. With our new accelerator hub launching in Birmingham in February we can’t wait to take our model south in our next step of driving an entrepreneurial revolution across the UK.”
Kanya King MBE shares her entrepreneurial story
Just a few days after the success of the Entrepreneuring Awards and the announcement of the 2014 results, Entrepreneurial Spark hosted its ‘Be the best you can be event’ with special guest speaker Kanya King MBE, founder of the MOBO Awards. Held in Birmingham on the run-up to the launch of Entrepreneurial Spark’s new incubator in the city, Kanya discussed what she had learned from her years in business. Kanya shared her inspiring story of how she overcame doubters to create one of the most popular music awards in the UK today and became named as one of Britain’s ‘Most Entrepreneurial Women’ by Real Business.
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Image of Kanya King MBE: Entrepreneurial Spark