Serial Entrepreneur launches University of Bristol New Enterprise Competition

Serial Entrepreneur launches University of Bristol New Enterprise Competition

[Posted on 24 November 2006]

Staff and students at the University of Bristol gathered to see local entrepreneur, Mike Bennett officially launch the annual New Enterprise Competition 2007.

The University of Bristol's New Enterprise Competition is designed to inspire high growth business ideas and entrepreneurial talent. Launched every autumn, the competition is open to students, staff and recent graduates of the university. There is a substantial prize fund in the region of £30,000 including cash, free professional advice and managed office space to help make businesses a commercial success. The closing date for entry for the 2007 competition is 26 February 2007.

This year guest speakers at the launch included Mike Bennett, CEO of e3media, Juicy Juicy and more recently Goldbrick House (also a member of the University's Enterprise Roll of Honour) and Ian Anderson of SensaGest Ltd (1st prize winners from the 2006 competition).

Mike studied at the university, achieving his BSc in Politics and Sociology in 1997 and set up e3media with business partner Stuart Avery before he graduated from Bristol in 1997. Today the Internet and digital agency enjoys great success, working with the likes of Orange, BBC, French Connection, Peugeot and several major government agencies.

Addressing staff and students from the university who attended the launch, Mike Bennett encouraged students to participate, "It's great to see universities such as Bristol promoting a culture of enterprise through competitions such as this. When you set up your own business, you inevitably come across people who don't think your idea will work so having an unshakeable sense of self-belief in yourself and your idea is essential. What the New Enterprise Competition does is allow you a platform to test your business idea as well as getting expert advice from university staff, many of whom have set up businesses of their own."

Last year's competition winner, SensaGest Ltd was founded by Ian Anderson and Paul Duff, two postgraduates from the Department of Computer Science. Their award-winning business plan centred around the development of a state-of-the-art nurse call system that can be operated by people with minimal hand movement and is connected to a wearable computer which will relay alerts to a paging device carried by a nurse or care worker. The device will be able to detect changes in conditions, for example a wet bed, and relay this information to a care worker.

Since winning the 2006 competition, SensaGest Ltd has not looked back and have seen their new business go from strength to strength. Commenting on their success Ian Anderson shared his throughts on the competition with the audience, "The New Enterprise Competition helped us to take our business to a completely different level. Winning it not only gave us access to expert mentor support and advice but also opened the door to investors. If you have a business idea you think could work, I would encourage you to enter as, like us, less than a year down the line that idea could be a reality."

Staff and students were told to submit their business plans by 26 February 2007. The best entries, as judged by a panel of experts from the sponsoring organisations including Bristol City Council, Business West, Deloitte, Fortis Bank, STMicroelectronics, Osborne Clarke, Sulis Innovation, BOC Edwards and UBHT, will then be invited to submit full business plans. Winners, to be announced at the prestigious Enterprise Dinner in the summer of 2007, will be awarded cash prizes and support to help bring their ideas to the marketplace.

Dr Neil Bradshaw, Director of Enterprise at the University of Bristol, who opened the launch commented, "The previous years' entries have been outstanding and we are proud of the standard that the New Enterprise Competition has reached. We are looking forward to seeing high levels of staff, students and alumni entering the 2007 competition."

This year's competition launch is part of Enterprise Week, a national week designed to raise awareness of the enterprise activities coming out of universities throughout the UK.

For further information, please contact:

Sadia Haq
Research and Enterprise Development, University of Bristol
Tel: +44 (0)117 928 8676
www.bristol.ac.uk/research