Young Start-up Talent judges, sponsors, supporters and candidates 2020 at Basepoint Business Centre
The entrepreneurial initiative in the South East, Young Start-up Talent (YST), hosted its annual speed-networking event at Basepoint Business Centre in Crawley with a selection of young entrepreneurs from around the region, all hoping to inspire and impress business professionals from the local area. Each candidate was competing for their place in the final, bringing them one step closer to being announced as the winner of prize fund of business products and services.
Young Start-up Talent speed networking event 2020
The entrepreneurial initiative ‘Young Start-up Talent’ was first in launched at Basepoint in Crawley in 2010, some ten years ago, has since expanded across the South of England and London. With its tenth year in full swing, YST are very proud to work alongside a host of businesses, all of which support the next generation of young entrepreneurs in the South East. Sponsors for the Region include companies such as Thales UK, NatWest, Grant Thornton, Caridon Property, Basepoint Business Crawley, Gatwick Diamond Business, Crawley and Reigate Borough Councils, Sussex Chamber of Commerce, Fastsigns and many more.
Rebecca Gatinessi – Regional Manager for Basepoint and who has been part of the initiative since its inception in 2010 said “It’s always a pleasure to host this event and exciting to meet the next generation of young entrepreneurs”.
Akeel Alidina of Caradon Property and business mentor said “It’s always a good to invest time into future talent. Some inspiring ideas and with the right guidance, there is some real success stories in the making”.
New to the panel of business professionals this year is John O’Mahony, Partner at Grant Thornton who attended the event said, “We heard some great business ideas and met a group of very bright, entrepreneurial young people”. Whilst fellow judge and sponsor John Redfearn of NatWest added “I was very impressed with the entrepreneurial talent this year”.
The young business minds pitched their business ideas on a 1-2-1 basis to each of the business professionals that attended the event. The candidates had just ten minutes to convince the sponsors of the feasibility and originality of their business, whilst also showing their entrepreneurial passion and creativity.
The young entrepreneurs included:
Carmel Kalani with her business that is aimed to empower consumers to engage with international organic spice farmers, Logan Leckie - an app aimed at millennials which combines gamification and a social element to produce a highly interactive educational focus for users to learn the fundamentals of investing. Gideon Angel - a multi-service platform that allows users to outsource mundane tasks, Zak Lloyd - an on-demand app that connects people to independent delivery contractors that will act as the user’s personal shopper, Anthony Mellor, a business specialising in both white label and bespoke product services for sportswear brands and Ayush Sanghavi - a platform aimed at vegetarians that provides users with hundreds of animal substitutes for a wide selection of different food products.
Finalists, Logan Leckie commented “I found the session to be informative, engaging and learnt a great deal from the session that I hadn’t thought of before”.
Another finalist Carmel Kalani, who pitched via video conference link during the event, added “Thank you to all those involved in the Young Start-up Talent project for all the support so far - very excited for the rest of the process.”
The process will continue over the next couple of months, with the final five entrepreneurs receiving further one on one help with the creation of in-depth business plans and cash flow forecasts before their formal pitches of their businesses to the panel of judges at the offices of Thales in Manor Royal during February. The winner of the prize fund of business products and services will be announced at a showcase final on Thursday 2nd April at 7.00am at a breakfast event at Thales in Manor Royal.
To find out more about Young Start-up Talent please visit: www.youngstartuptalent.co.uk. Alternatively, if you would like to attend the showcase please RSVP to: admin@youngstartuptalent.co.uk
The Business Professionals that took part in the speed networking evening were as follows:
John Redfearn - NatWest
Dave Kickham - Thales UK
John O’Mahony - Grant Thornton
Akeel Alidina - Caridon Property
Mario Carrozzo - Caridon Property
Ana Christie - Sussex Chamber of Commerce
Simon Bland - Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Melanie Martinez - Fastsigns
Alan White - Fastsigns
Chris Lyle - NatWest
Rebecca Gatinessi - Basepoint Business Centre
Sarah Goulder - Basepoint Business Centre
Lise Sorensen - Crawley Borough Council
Lorraine Nugent - Wildwood PR
Matt Turner - Creative Pod
Geoff Williamson - Crawley & Gatwick Chamber of Commerce
Tino Da Silva - Business First TV
Colin Tomlinson - Jubylee Bakes
Jeff Alexander - Gatwick Diamond Business Association