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Young Entrepreneurs in the Britain's Startup Hotspots

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS in Britain's START-UP HOTSPOTS With new figures* revealing Britain's start-up hotspots, young entrepreneurs in each region speak of their experiences. EDINBURGH: 7,112 GLASGOW: 8,085 MANCHESTER: 11,765 BIRMINGHAM: 16,281 LONDON: 136,939 BRISTOL: 7,589 BRIGHTON: 7,499 *The number of new UK businesses registered at Companies House during 2013 BRIGHTON Maria Allen Age: 24 Founded: Maria Allen Boutique Business description: Online jewellery boutique selling unique designs made from reclaimed and sustainable wood Special achievements: Doubled turnover in each of the last three years (£34K whilst studying, £121K, £250K) Selected to be one of the first businesses showcased in the Popup Britain campaign in 2013 My first experience of running a business was while I was studying at City College Brighton. There was an enterprise competition there and although I didn't win, I received very valuable advice from a mentor and I still use her advice in my business today. Brighton open houses are very popular with the public. They have been good extra channels to ensure more people see my products that might not have found my business online otherwise. It's also really good to meet other creative people that are exhibiting at the houses. I Brighton is smaller than London, so lots of businesses and owners are local. Having said that, it's very useful that London is only a one hour train ride away, and so it's been very easy for me to go there for meetings whenever needed. @maria_allen LONDON Henry Hales Age: 25 Founded: Sir Plus Business description: Makes luxury clothing using off-cuts and surplus fabrics Special achievements: * Smarta 100 winner * Ships products all over the world London is definitely the place to be for starting a business. Everything's here: customers, journalists, skilled employees and plenty of guidance and support. You're also right in the thick of things and able to see the trends as they happen. For a fashion retail business like mine, London Fashion Week provides a great opportunity to meet designers, journalists and buyers. Unusually, the majority of Sir Plus items are made in London. Having an efficient local supply chain gives a small business like mine flexibility and a competitive advantage. リリ The only downside I can think of (though it's a fairly significant one) is cost. Everything in London is more expensive. @sirplusclothing GLASGOW Craig McAluley Age: 26 Founded: The Boiler Change Company Business description: Specialists in boiler repair and replacement Special achievements: * Received the Prince's Trust Award in 2012 * Won the Glasgow Regeneration Agency Award in 2011 and the Cardonald College Glasgow Plumbing Awards twice (2005, 2009) Young people are setting up all sorts of businesses in Glasgow, from traditional trades like mine to beauty therapists. There are three main factors that prompt young people in Glasgow to start businesses: the lack of jobs for them; a sense of insecurity when they do have work; and concern about being stuck in positions that don't exploit the skills they gained at college. Customers are open to using start-ups, especially those run by young people, and in Glasgow there are a lot of networking opportunities run by organisations like the Prince's Trust. @boilerchange BIRMINGHAM Nick Holzherr Age: 27 Co-founded: Whisk Business description: Cookery app that creates smart grocerý lists from recipes and connects with supermarkets Special achievements: 'The Apprentice' finalist If you want reasons to set up a business in a certain city, cost and talent aregoing to have a massive impact. Birmingham caters for both very well: the cost of living is probably half of that in London, while having lots of universities in a relatively small space means there's no shortage of talent and skills - but there are fewer rival companies competing for that talent. One of the challenges of setting up in Birmingham I faced was that clients aren't really based around here. The trains are very fast though - just an hour and half to London. @WhiskTeam EDINBURGH Amy Dolan Age: 24 Founded: Ziggy Sawdust Business description: Furniture redesign business with a focus on upcycling retro and vintage furniture Special achievements: BT Scotland Young Entrepreneur Winner 2013 Young people in Edinburgh have set up quite a few handcraft and creative design businesses, encouraged by good local markets, design fairs and independent retailers that allow uS to promote our products in their stores. リリ There are helpful organisations in Edinburgh like Entrepreneurial Spark which offer young people desk space, access to computers, 'phones and WIFI. This helps to keep down overheads. @ ziggysawdust - BRISTOL idea Fidea idea O BRAND Ash Philips Age: 24 Founded: Midas Creative Group Business description: Multi-disciplined graphic design, web design and marketing consultancy Special achievements: Started his first business at 19; now founds four different businesses and is looking to invest in others The Paint Works in Bristol is a hub for creative businesses. Being a creative gives you a lot of initiative, so if a person feels that there's an industry coming to the forefront, then as a creative they will think 'I need to jump on that instead’. It's easy to partner up in Bristol. You'll see an engineer and go 'you've got a great idea for a product but the way it looks and feels and acts is wrong, so let's partner together and make something great'. Crowdfunding in the last five years has grown massively; starting with Kickstarter, now you've got Seedrs, Crowdcube, and so many others. They have fostered a generation of investors that are slightly younger in Bristol. リリ @ MidasCG MANCHESTER Justin Blackhurst Age: 30 Founded: Digital Next Business description: Digital marketing agency offering integrated online marketing services to brands Special achievements: After just five years in operation, Digital Next recorded a turnover of £200,000 in 2013 and now has offices in eight countries around the world Right now, and for the future, the Manchester digital agency scene is blossoming and will only welcome more competition and start-ups. in Www. We're based at The Sharp Project, home to the north-west of England's top digital entrepreneurs, so we are surrounded by cutting edge digital creativity. Although the opportunities are abundant in the digital industry, it has only just begun to thrive and there is still an extreme demand for online marketers. リリ More than ever I would recommend that any young entrepreneurs out there begin creating a strategy to deploy a business worthy of competing with the big agencies in Manchester. eDigitalNextHQ g+ Sources: www.gemconsortium.org www.startupbritain.co www.thersa.org/action-research-centre www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills www.young-enterprise.org.uk startup www.virginstartup.org

Young Entrepreneurs in the Britain's Startup Hotspots

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Where are young entrepreneurs starting their businesses? We interviewed a young entrepreneur from each hotspot and found out why they think their business has thrived in that area.

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