In one of the most challenging years businesses have ever faced we were thrilled to award prizes totaling £42,000 to ten outstanding businesses in this year’s Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards, delivered in partnership by Responsible Finance and the Citi Foundation.
A business launched to make the world accessible to disabled travelers, a plastic-free zero waste store which has revitalised its local area, a recording studio and music education social enterprise, and Glasgow’s first new rum distillery for 300 years were the category winners. Each received a £7,500 prize.
Six other shortlisted businesses were each awarded a £2,000 prize in a new departure for the Awards.
We are grateful to The Citi Foundation for this additional prize fund support; at this time of unprecedented challenges to microenterprises the Awards made a tangible difference, protecting businesses, jobs and livelihoods. They have provided direct financial support which has enabled businesses and social enterprises to survive, thrive, pivot and adapt. And once again they celebrated the impact and achievements of responsible finance providers and the inspiring entrepreneurs they support.
Since the Awards ceremony in July we caught up with winners to learn how the prize money boosted their businesses:
Birmingham-based Limitless Travel, which makes the world accessible to all disabled travellers, was 2020’s Growth Award winner. Limitless was launched after founder Angus Drummond was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and decided to travel the world – an amazing experience but a discovery of the difficulties of traveling with a disability. His review and advice website for disabled travellers has grown into “more than a travel company,” a proud provider of supported and bespoke holidays for people with a wide range of mobility restrictions and disabilities.
The business has been supported by an incubation programme and seed investment from Key Fund. Limitless invested their Citi prize money in:
- A new CRM (customer relationship management) system, better suited to their needs now and in the future,
- A new product, Limitless Virtual Experiences: interactive video sessions hosted online by an expert host. These are designed to go far beyond the average class or tour, and include live tours of Pompeii’s ruins, the Pink City of Jaipur, Prague, St Petersburg and more. The Citi prize money was used as seed funding to launch this as a minimum viable product and customer feedback has been superb. They will now roll it out beyond their customer base.
Picture © Stewart Attwood
Edinburgh’s plastic-free and zero waste store, The Refillery, was named the UK’s most exceptional business contributing to Sustainability. Since opening at the start of 2019 it has become a community hub and revitalised its local area.
In the Refillery’s first year alone it beat all sales projections, created 5 jobs and saved over 120,000 pieces of plastic packaging from being used. Founder and Director Kelly Wright opened The Refillery after a 20-year career in food manufacturing, during which she became aware of the impact plastic pollution was having on the environment. Kelly used her savings to meet half of the startup costs of the business, with the remainder covered by a loan from DSL Business Finance.
The Refillery used the Citi prize money to:
- Buy new equipment for the shop, enhancing customer experience still further. Its commitment to (and delivery of) a high quality shopping environment is important. Thanks to this, the shop was featured in the Financial Times magazine as one of the world’s five best plastic free stores.
- And to launch franchising opportunities across the UK. This is Kelly’s plan to scale high quality, plastic-free and zero waste shops; making them and their products more accessible to all consumers.
Yasin El Ashrafi, founder of HQ Creative Arts Network which uses music and spoken word creation, music studio recording, events, and performances to combat mental ill-health, addiction issues and low confidence, was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
HQ CAN generates income through commercial studio hire, mastering and artist development services, and gives participants a way of making an income with their activities often leading to employment. A business loan and grant package from Key Fund helped Yasin set up an additional recording studio to double capacity for his commercial clients, charitable funded projects, and record label HQ Familia. The prize money has supported the business, enabling equipment purchases so some of its artists could record music from home during lockdown, and HQ was able to continue to release music.
Zander Macgregor and Allan Nairn of Wester Spirit Co, Glasgow’s first rum distillery for 300 years, were named the UK’s Young Microentrepreneurs of the Year. Zander and Allan both enjoyed rum and wondered why it wasn’t being made in Scotland.
They launched Wester Spirit Co in 2017, tested and perfected their own craft rums, and went on to set up Glasgow’s first rum distillery for 300 years, a zero waste to landfill business. Their products are stocked in over 300 establishments; and their spiced rum has been named in the top 10 spiced rums in the world by The Independent. A loan from DSL Business Finance supported Wester’s growth.
The Citi prize money gave them the ability to create, launch and test new products. They created a limited edition rum, informed their mailing list, and it sold out straight away. Without the Citi money this would have been much harder to do, and a bigger risk they may not have been comfortable taking.
Launched in 2005, (and in 2013 in the UK), the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards were established by the Citi Foundation to recognise best-in-class microentrepreneurs and celebrate the responsible finance sector and their contribution to national economies. Read more about this year’s winners and finalists.