Awards celebrate Leeds entrepreneurs and small businesses

The Business Advantage Awards, developed in partnership with Lupton Fawcett Denison Till (LFDT) Solicitors, offer a one-year support package worth up to £5,000 of mentoring and/or legal support to each winner.

The winners of this year’s awards are Phil Netherton (pictured), co-founder of travel company Euroventure, Digital Hub client Dave Turner of Codera, Leeds Beckett student and staff member Zainah Khan of Chakra Corporate, Chris Hassall of uComply Risk Management and Paul Kaye of IntelliQA.

The awards were open to Leeds Beckett students, graduates and business clients of the University’s Enterprise and Innovation Academy (EIA) and the Digital Hub.  Applicants to the awards had to submit a brief business plan and then deliver a 10-minute presentation on their business to an expert panel.

Phil Netherton co-founded the online tour operator Euroventure in 2012 with his brother Kevin; and the company has recently expanded to include a further five full-time members of staff as well as two work experience students. In the last 12 months the company’s turnover has tripled, sustaining its factor of three expansion rate on the previous period.

Euroventure puts together set routes or customised packages for European rail holidays with rail and accommodation for young people aged 18-24 as well as catering for more experienced travellers up to retirement age.

Speaking about the growth of the business, Philip said: "Following one year of rapid growth within the EIA Hub at Leeds Beckett, the start-up has outgrown its first offices with the Hub at Queen Square and whilst staying with EIA Hub, we’ve now transferred to larger premises, opposite Leeds train station.

"Our move to Cloth Hall Court is one of a string of exciting investments we are making in infrastructure to ensure we are prepared for the growth we expect in 2016 and beyond. Winning the Business Advantage Award and working with solicitors firm Lupton Fawcett will be invaluable to us, offering professional mentoring and advice that will continue to encourage the company’s expansion”.

Zainah Khan, who is studying a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy as well as working in Financial Services at Leeds Beckett, is planning to launch Chakra, a Corporate Mental Strength Training Programme, which focuses on increasing the stress-resilience and motivation of managerial staff in the finance and legal industries. Zainah chose the name Chakra, as it translates from Ancient Hindi to mean ‘energy point’; and the business will deliver a range of interactive workshops and training sessions as packages which cover neuro-linguistic programming, cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness meditation, mental toughness, expressive arts, emotional intelligence and group dynamics. Chakra will also offer one-to-one personal therapy to employees.

Speaking about winning the award, Zainah said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won the Business Advantage Award and believe that this incredible opportunity is really going to give Chakra a solid foundation upon launch and beyond. I am very excited about working with Lupton Fawcett Denison Till and being able to use their expertise to benefit my consultancy, as well as to expand my knowledge and networks. The initial experience of delivering my business pitch and gaining feedback from the panel has already taught me a huge amount and I look forward to developing myself and the business further with this award. Thank you very much to our University and LFDT.”

Paul Kaye founded IntelliQA in 2011. The company provides Application Delivery Management and Process Integration Solutions that enable IT teams to deliver and transform their business.  

Speaking about winning the award, Paul said: “It is an honour to be selected for the Business Advantage Award.  IntelliQA delivers strategic consultancy on a global basis and partners with leading vendors that are based in many countries.  These include Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Tasktop.  The international legal advice will be of significant benefit.  We are proud of our Leeds base and look to expand the company using the rich pool of local talent. The award will enable us to ensure that we meet our responsibilities in looking after our team of dedicated professionals.  We see new opportunities each day, particularly in our key fields of expertise which are enterprise level Mobile App testing and Process Integration. The advice that we will receive as part of the package will help us realise the potential that our team and our partners hold.”

Dave Turner co-launched software company Codera in 2014 with three other directors with the vision of the company becoming a quality­-driven software development house. He said: “When we launched Codera, none of us had experience of running our own business and as such we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Since then we have realised there is a lot to learn to get it right. With the help of Lupton Fawcett and the Business Advantage Award, I am confident that we will gain the knowledge and skills required to push our business forward, projecting a professional image and building a successful sales pipeline that is sustained by repeat business and happy employees that feel rewarded by our growth.”

Chris Hassall founded uComply Risk Management in 2014 to assist businesses in complying with food hygiene and health and safety requirements. Equipped with a range of tailored services, uComply Risk Management helps companies in the hospitality, catering, retail and leisure industries abide by government legislation, minimise risk, and protect both employees and guests from potential food hygiene and health and safety dangers. 

Speaking about winning the award, Chris said: “The Business Advantage Award should prove to be a huge boost to uComply Risk Management. Having the support and guidance of LFDT will ensure that we have a strong legal foundation on which to grow and develop the company further. We are hoping to use the award to firm up the contracts with our clients and contractors. We are also launching an online application in the next few months that will assist our clients in maintaining food hygiene and health and safety compliance - the award will allow us to ensure we have a sound footing in relation to intellectual property of the application."

Speaking about the awards, Katie Rigarlsford, Enterprise and Innovation Manager at Leeds Beckett, said: “Getting the right legal advice in areas such as employment, terms and conditions, insurances and intellectual property is vital but often costly to early stage businesses. This is our second year working in partnership with Lupton Fawcett Denison Till to deliver such support through the Business Advantage Awards. The businesses supported in the first year were delighted with the support that they received. These businesses showed significant growth, which in one case included a six-figure business investment. We are delighted to have Lupton Fawcett Denison Till's ongoing support for our students, graduates and Enterprise Hub clients, knowing that the mentoring and advice they are providing coupled with valuable business introductions that they can broker makes real impact for those supported through the scheme.”

The support package includes one-to-one enterprise mentoring support from a solicitor with expertise in the relevant field, IP protection, business structure and taxation advice, HR conditions and employment terms, premises legal support, as well as valuable industry introductions and specialist expertise.

Daniel McCormack, Director, Corporate, at Lupton Fawcett Denison Till, added: “We were very impressed with the quality of start-up businesses that won the Lupton Fawcett Business Advantage Awards in 2015 and very much enjoyed mentoring / supporting them and seeing their businesses take off.  Once again in 2016 we are stunned at such another great set of winners.  My fellow partners and I who will be mentoring them, can’t wait to get started.

The Enterprise and Innovation Academies are currently home to 200 businesses across Leeds and Headingley.