Winners share £5000 prize fund in Inverness College UHI Business Competition
A REVOLUTIONARY pipe fitting, miniature gardens and a safety device for creel boats were among the winning ideas at the annual Inverness College UHI Business Competition Grand Final.
Eight out of 15 finalists shared in a prize fund of £5000 after pitching their business idea to a panel of the region’s top business and enterprise professionals.
Organised by CREATE, the Inverness College UHI’s Centre for Enterprise and Innovation, the competition attracted 116 entries, including 80 from students across the University of the Highlands and Islands partnership. The youngest entrant was 16 and the eldest was into the 80s.
The competition is now in its 12th year and encourages and supports entrepreneurship in the Highlands and Islands and amongst students.
The winners were:
- Top Prize of £1000 and a combined legal and accountancy package from Johnston Carmichael and Harper MacLeod LLP worth £2000 - Paul Beaulieu (42), from Milton, Invergordon, a student at Inverness College UHI. (Pictured, right).
- Best Commercial Business £500 – Sarah Speakman (53), from Inverness.
- Best Social Impact Business £500 – Gina Macdonald (59), from North Uist, a student at Lews Castle College UHI student.
- Best HE Student Business £500 – Liam Patrick (18), from Inverness, a student at Inverness College UHI.
- Best FE Student Business £500 – Caroline Sutherland (38), from Inverness, a student at Inverness College UHI.
- Most Innovative and Creative Business £500 – Paul Beaulieu (as above).
- Best Culture and Environment Business £500 – Martin Zweifel (28), from the Isle of Lewis, a student at Lews Castle College UHI.
- Youth Entrepreneurship Award £500 – Emma-Mae Allen (17), from Drumnadrochit, a student at Inverness College UHI.
- Best Presentation £500 – Harrison Wood (18), from the Isle of Harris, a student at Lews Castle College UHI.
More than 80 guests attended last night’s final at Inverness College UHI, which followed a high energy day of business pitches by finalists to a panel of experts including Brenda Dunthorne, of In Your Element, Catriona Mallows, of Impact Hub Inverness, and Stewart Thomson, of The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme.
(Pictured, the winners)
The keynote speaker was Matt Stevenson, managing director of Carbon Dynamic, who spoke about his entrepreneurial journey to becoming a world leader in modular off-site timber manufacture.
Carol Langston, head of CREATE at Inverness College UHI, said: “Once again we’ve been overwhelmed by the number of entries, which have come from as far afield as Orkney, the Isle of Lewis, Perth and Moray. Our judges were really impressed with the finalists’ pitches and the quality of their ideas, which really does show enterprise, innovation and creativity is thriving in the Highlands and Islands.”
Professor Chris O’Neil, Principal of Inverness College UHI, said: “Entrepreneurship is absolutely critical in today’s society and it should be recognised and celebrated. At Inverness College UHI we encourage our staff and students to be bold, creative, take risks and push themselves outside their comfort zone. Entrepreneurial spirit and determination to succeed shone through last night and I can’t wait to see where that takes these finalists in the future.”
This year’s competition was sponsored and supported by Business Gateway Highland, Developing the Young Workforce Inverness & Central Highland, Harper Macleod LLP, Johnston Carmichael, Impact Hub Inverness, In Your Element, The Prince’s Trust and the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Professor Neil Simco, Assistant Principal for Curriculum Growth and Acting Vice-Principal Research, University of the Highlands and Islands, said: “The University of the Highlands and Islands is delighted to support the 2017 Business Ideas Competition. The university has a key role in facilitating the development of entrepreneurial activity across the region, especially regarding the encouragement of students to develop business ideas and proposals and I would personally like to congratulate all winners and participants of this year’s competition.”
Among the judges was Stewart Thomson, Enterprise Manager for The Prince’s Trust. He said: “The Prince’s Trust is delighted to be involved in such an inspiring and far reaching enterprise initiative in the Highlands and Islands region. We are actively seeking to support more young people in the area and engage with network partners as much as we can to support the enterprise community as a whole and these awards form a significant part of our ambitions for the area.
Louise Torr, solicitor at Harper Macleod LLP, said: "Innovation is central to Harper Macleod's ethos and we work with great start-ups and entrepreneurs all over the country. The standard of entry to the Business Competition never fails to impress and you can see from the winners the high level of entrepreneurship that exists. It's vital that young businesses and entrepreneurs are given the support and encouragement they need to flourish. It's never too early to pursue a great idea and start to learn the lessons that will ultimately lead to more successful businesses in the local economy."
(Pictured, right, the finalists, sponsors and judges)
Andy Maxtone, programme manager for DYW Inverness and Central Highland, said: “As a former judge of the Business Competition, I am well aware of the quality and standard of business ideas that the competition can generate. At DYW we work with the business community to help them engage with education to increase opportunities for young people. We hear all too often that young people are not aware of the opportunities available to them in the Highlands and the Inverness College UHI Business Competition is a fantastic way of raising awareness of self-employment and entrepreneurship. I congratulate the CREATE team on 12 successful years of driving enterprise through this competition”
Mark MacKintosh, senior business areas sales manager for Business Gateway Highland, said: “We’ve been involved in this competition from the outset because we’re passionate about supporting new businesses and entrepreneurs. I’ve been involved as a judge in the past and it always generates some great applications. We provides lots of free advice and support to new businesses and look forward to supporting these entrepreneurs in the future.”
The Inverness College UHI Business Competition has attracted more than 1200 entries since it was launched 12 years ago and has awarded more than £60,000. It is open to all students studying at the University of the Highlands and Islands as well as non-students living in the Highlands and Islands, Moray and Perthshire.
CREATE was formed to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the university and wider region. For more information, visit www.createhighland.com
- Top Prize of £1000 and a combined legal and accountancy package from Johnston Carmichael and Harper MacLeod LLP worth £2000 - Paul Beaulieu (42), from Milton, Invergordon.
Paul is an HND Engineering Systems student at Inverness College UHI. His simple but ingenious idea could revolutionise how pipes are fabricated and fitted together. He’s designed a pipe contour profiler. It is used to create a saddle profile on pipes – a task that normally requires two templates to be created, taking up to three hours. With the profiler, the process takes minutes and creates an exact fitment of one pipe saddling onto another pipe.
The father-of-four came up with the idea when he was working with a pipe which didn’t fit correctly. “The gap needed quite a bit of welding and it got me thinking about a better solution. I was on my lunch break drinking a carton of juice, I took the straw out and it fitted perfectly in the gap. That was the start. I built a prototype and that’s what I presented to the judges.”
Paul used to work as a shot blast sprayer before he became a pipe welder. He studied the HNC in Fabrication, Welding and Inspection at Inverness College UHI before progressing to the HND in Engineering Systems. He’s worked for DMH Engineering and Emac Engineering and now combines full-time study with full-time logistics work at Carbon Dynamic.
“I am absolutely gob-smacked to win,” he said. “I’d love to go on and pursue this business idea, but I’m also really keen to go further in my education. I spend all my free time fixing things and I’ve got so many ideas. I see what companies like Carbon Dynamic are doing and it’s inspiring. I love welding but I want to broaden my knowledge and learn more.”
- Best Commercial Business £500 – Sarah Speakman (53), from Inverness.
Sarah’s idea was to set up a miniature garden retail business – Suki Miniature Gardens – supplying miniature living plants, accessories, materials and expert advice She wants to bring the joy and creativity of gardening to everyone, whether or not they have an outdoor space.
Sarah, who has worked as head gardener of Inverness Botanic Gardens for nearly 10 years, said: “The benefits of working with and among plants are increasingly being acknowledged as a major factor in improving health and wellbeing. It is also accessible and can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter what their income, age or physical mobility. Indoor gardens enable those in flats to nurture their very own garden even if they only have a window sill, whilst the benefits of outdoor miniature gardens are that they are easy to make, portable and bring a playful sense of fun.”
- Best Social Impact Business £500 – Gina Macdonald (59) lives in North Uist and is a BA Fine Art student at Lews Castle College UHI.
Gina developed a business idea for growing daffodils in North Uist to produce natural Galanthamine to slow the progression of dementia. From trials, she believes it is possible and viable and would use unused land on the island which does not interfere with traditional crofting. She sees her innovative project bringing employment and income to rural areas of the Highlands and Islands, describing it as an environmentally sympathetic solution. She hopes to carry out a feasibility study comparing the results of different bulbs in different land on the island. The business would be called ‘Buidhe.’
- Best HE Student Business £500 – Liam Patrick (18), from Inverness, is a BA (Hons) Business Management student at Inverness College UHI.
Liam's business idea is to grow food using hydroponic processes – cultivating plants in water, not soil. He believes that mass scale hydroponics is the most efficient, sustainable and cost effective way to produce food and proposed setting up a small café/growing centre to start his business.
“I researched how we produce our food and how we distribute our food and discovered that some food travels for thousands of miles just to reach our plates, but I also discovered how inefficient and time consuming traditional crop farming is,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in hydroponics and the idea just developed from there. I am absolutely thrilled to win, it’s a massive surprise. I’ve enjoyed every minute and had a great time.”
- Best FE Student Business £500 – Caroline Sutherland (38), from Inverness, is a pre-apprenticeship Electrical Installation and Renewables student at Inverness College UHI.
Caroline’s idea is to provide a safety device for securing ropes on creel boats, ensuring that fisherman shooting creel have a clear deck for feet-placement. This safety device would reduce the risk of their feet being caught up in ropes and lessen the danger of being killed or seriously injured. Caroline, a former fisherman, has personally experienced the tragic consequences of creel fishing, after losing her partner at sea.
“I know what a tough, thankless and not always profitable business creel fishing is, and this safety device would reduce the risks and save lives,” she said. “I am delighted to be a winning finalist.”
- Best Culture and Environment Business £500 – Martin Zweifel (28) lives in Stornoway and is a BA (Hons) Business and Management student at Lews Castle College UHI.
Martin's business idea is an export agency focussing on the trade of fish products between Scotland and Switzerland, a country which imports 95 per cent of its fish products. The proposal intends to use his existing local and foreign business links to promote distribution.
Martin, who is originally from Switzerland, said: “Scottish products have a very high standing in the country in terms of quality, particularly fish and seafood. The idea really came about through experience. Every time I go home to see family, they ask me to bring about 20kg of smoked salmon with me!
“I am really chuffed to win and quite surprised. I’d definitely like to take the idea further.”
- Youth Entrepreneurship Award £500 – Emma-Mae Allen (17), from Drumnadrochit, is an Introduction to Business Management and Accounting student at Inverness College UHI.
Emma-Mae's business idea is a café called ‘The Rolling Pin,’ a social enterprise company designed to help those in need. The café would support the homeless, recovering addicts and those with additional support needs by providing them with training and employment opportunities. It would also act as a food bank and a place to meet people and socialise.
“There are lots of people in these situations and there needs to be more help out there,” she said. “Communities of people are struggling to feed themselves or pay their rent and I want to raise awareness and provide support to anyone who is struggling. I am shocked to win, but very happy. It’s an idea I want to pursue in the future.”
- Best Presentation £500 – Harrison Wood (18), from the Isle of Harris, is an HNC Business student at Lews Castle College UHI.
Harrison’s idea is for a craft brewery on the island, delivering much needed jobs. Harrison, who works for the Isle of Harris Distillers, came up with the idea after seeing the difference his employers have made to the local economy. He tasted his first craft beer when he turned 18 and would love to follow in the footsteps of the likes of BrewDog.
“It would be a ‘business by the people, for the people’ and I genuinely want to make a difference and provide jobs on the island, keeping young people here,” he said. “The craft beer market share has also grown year on year. It was fantastic to win an award.”
- Most Innovative and Creative Business £500 – Paul Beaulieu.