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The StartUp Awards were established in 2022 to highlight the success of startups across nine UK regions and to celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs in all sectors of the economy. From digital to global startup of the year, there were 28 different awards to be given out. Creator of the awards Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, said the inaugural events have celebrated the best new firms in the UK and recognised the amazing entrepreneurial talent across the nation, something we are hugely proud to be recognised for! Jones-Evans was quoted stating that, “We’re so proud of the amazing reception from all parts of the country for the first year of the StartUp Awards National Series. Across the regions, we had over 2,500 entries and from that, judges chose 900 finalists. When you consider that between them, they are generating £300m annually and employing over 5,000 people – the awards have shown that startups can make a difference in so many ways.” Hearing that there were over 2,500 entries, 900 finalists and even fewer winners – it’s even clearer to see that Nat’s win for Young Entrepreneur of the Year is nothing to be overlooked!
The event took place on the 8th of September at Box Park in Wembley and in true TGE fashion, Nat wasn’t actually in the U.K. to collect her award. Instead, Social Media Manager Julia went to bring home the goods! The awards, judged by a panel of prominent local judges including Hugh Chappel, a serial entrepreneur, Roger Gorman of ProFina, Chris Kenna of Brand Advance and Amer Hasan of Minicabit, were made up of some seriously fierce competition. Nat was up against every type of startup you can think of, including dining experiences, technology recruitment agencies and even consulting companies. As influencer marketing is a relatively new concept compared to some of these well established industries, we were even more blown away to be winners!
Another quote by Jones-Evans that struck a chord with us, though, was his statement that “More importantly, it was incredible to see that so many amazing entrepreneurial firms have not only been started during the Covid pandemic but have grown during the worst recession in over three centuries.” As a small company that was founded just two weeks before the pandemic began, Covid inevitably brought endless challenges to our projects. However, through Nat’s dedication to our small (but mighty!) team during the most difficult days we have come out stronger, making this award mean even more to us. Watch this space, though, as we have our eyes on a few more prizes this year!