The Winners
The winners in the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards are:
Microentrepreneur Award for Sustainability
The Argyll Smokery
Karen Baxter and Allan McDougall own and operate The Argyll Smokery, an independent traditional fish smoke house which carries out all of its processes by hand. The business has won many food awards since launching in 2010 and employs three full-time and two part-time people from the local area. It supplies wholesalers, retailers and supermarkets and is a client of DSL Business Finance.
Microentrepreneur Award for Growth
Alpkit
Nottingham-based Alpkit designs, manufactures and sells outdoor equipment. The firm was founded in 2004 as an online-only retailer when four friends with a shared passion for exploring the Alps started making gear for themselves. A loan from Enterprise Loans East Midlands enabled Alpkit to invest in its IT systems. The business now has 63 full-time employees. Every week they make over 1,500 products for climbers, hikers and bikers.
Young Microentrepreneur Award
Ruach Music
Stephen Henderson is the 22-year-old entrepreneur behind Kilkeel-based Ruach Music which produces and sells handmade Cajons, pedalboards and effects pedals for guitarists. After coming across a Cajon (a percussion instrument) and unable to afford one, Stephen built his own. He continued to make and refine Cajons, advertising them online. Ruach Music now has six staff, 20 UK stockists and distributors in the USA and Ireland. The firm’s journey was supported by Enterprise Northern Ireland.
Social Entrepreneur Award
Harry Specters
Ely-based deluxe chocolate business, Harry Specters, has a mission to offer confidence and hope to people with autism by providing jobs and training. While on a chocolate-making course, founder Mona Shah had an epiphany: she realised that making quality chocolate involves tasks suited to some on the autistic spectrum. Harry Specters now employs four full-time and five part-time staff and has provided training and work experience to 183 autistic people. It was helped with a loan from Foundation East.
Resilience Award
Lancashire Community Finance
Lancashire Community Finance provides a service for local people who have come to rely on them to provide affordable, tailored products. Over the last 13 years, it has made 11,925 loans for personal, home improvement and business use. The lender is proud to offer 1-1 non-credit scored or automated loan products, targeted at financially excluded residents. To maintain its services in a changing marketplace, the lender remains flexible and continually looks for ways to improve delivery and reduce costs.
Impact Award
Robert Owen Community Banking Fund
Robert Owen Community Banking Fund (ROCBF) creates social, economic and environmental impacts through its diverse investment activities in Wales. ROCBF helps communities develop energy schemes in the lowest income areas of Wales. In three years, it has lent £957,000 to 25 pilot schemes, leveraging £17m of construction investment. The community energy schemes operating thanks to ROBCF generate enough energy to power 5500 homes, saving almost 6m tonnes of CO2 emissions per month compared with the standard UK electricity generation mix.
Responsible Finance Leader Award
Steve Walker (ART Business Loans)
Steve Walker is a passionate champion of access to finance for enterprise. He was instrumental in the establishment of ART Business Loans and the Community Development Finance sector in the UK in 1997, with involvement in their development ever since. Warm-hearted, enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about the sector, Steve always willing to share his expertise. It is a testament to Steve’s leadership that four of the seven staff team at ART have worked at ART for over 10 years.
Outstanding Loan Officer Award
Xiao Liu (Business Finance Solutions)
Xiao Liu joined Business Finance Solutions (BFS) as a Loan Officer in September 2016 and has helped nearly 200 entrepreneurs secure funding to start or grow their businesses. Xiao has shown commitment to her work and high quality of customer service, and her efforts have been recognised by colleagues and clients. Putting clients’ needs at the heart of what she does, Xiao takes time to understand their needs, tailoring her approach to each individual and organisation.