BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur 2007 winners gallery

Now in its third year, the BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur competition celebrates the achievements of small businesses that have demonstrated exceptional dedication and have found new directions to succeed in business with the help of technology.

A panel of judges, headed up by successful business tycoon Peter Jones, will select 20 inspirational entrepreneurs who will be photographed by renowned photographer Rankin to capture the essence of their business. From the 20 winners, the judges will also be looking for the Best Female, Best Male, Young Entrepreneur of the year and the most original business concept. In addition, the top business will be awarded the title of Outstanding Entrepreneur and the prize of a £20,000 business grant from BT.

For details on how to enter the 2008 competition, plus more information on the competition, judges and tips on starting a business visit our special BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur page

Here is a selection of winners from 2007

Now in its third year, the BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur competition celebrates the achievements of small businesses that have demonstrated exceptional dedication and have found new directions to succeed in business with the help of technology.

A panel of judges, headed up by successful business tycoon Peter Jones, will select 20 inspirational entrepreneurs who will be photographed by renowned photographer Rankin to capture the essence of their business. From the 20 winners, the judges will also be looking for the Best Female, Best Male, Young Entrepreneur of the year and the most original business concept. In addition, the top business will be awarded the title of Outstanding Entrepreneur and the prize of a £20,000 business grant from BT.

For details on how to enter the 2008 competition, plus more information on the competition, judges and tips on starting a business visit our special BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur page

Here is a selection of winners from 2007

Music Concierge, London

Music Concierge is a ground-breaking service that has been set up using genuine music expertise to offer bespoke music programming to luxury brands, boutique hotels, restaurants, shops and other design-led spaces that want to sound truly unique. Creative Director and founder Rob Wood is passionate about bringing the best music from around the world and incorporating it into the creative vision of exceptional brands and spaces.
Truly Madly Baby Ltd, Milton Keynes

Truly Madly Baby provides quality, unique and practical products from pregnancy to toddler, brought to customers in their own home via home parties, an online shop and a beautiful mail order catalogue. Their customers enjoy the 'shop from home' experience and at the same time can meet with other mums and socialise with babies in the day, or without them in the evenings.
A Woman's Touch Limited (Winner: Female Entrepreneur), Wimbledon

Developed by Kerrie Keeling, an ex-investment banker, A Woman's Touch is a building and property maintenance company with a twist - the majority of the workforce are women! Staff include female brick layers, plumbers, tilers, carpenters, electricians, decorators, architects, estimators, plasterers and office staff (and a few very well trained men as well!). A Woman's Touch cover large projects such as basement and loft conversions, all the way through kitchen and bathroom fitting and refurbishments, down to small decorating and maintenance jobs. They currently cover London, Brighton and Southern Spain.
Does My Tum Look Big In This Ltd, Farnborough

Does My Tum Look Big In This is a maternity wear business set up following the frustrating experience of Natalie Gladman of (unsuccessfully) trying to find a formal dress for a Christmas function when 8 months pregnant. Its service includes the provision of special occasion maternity wear hire – the concept is why spend a fortune on a maternity evening dress that you are only likely to wear once. The business started as a work from home business complimented with online hires via its website. Natalie now has branches in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Wiltshire, and Northamptonshire as well as a thriving online business. In addition, the business has a retail shop offering the UK's largest range of maternity bridal wear.
www.ilikemusic.com, Romsey

I Like Music was launched in 2001 as an independent voice in an industry saturated by big corporations. The site was launched by a small team of young people who like music, for others who like music. Now, in its sixth successful year online, I Like Music includes a range of artist interviews, from 50 Cent, Razorlight and Nelly Furtado to James Blunt, Lady Sovereign and Paul Oakenfold, plus a broad collection of cross-genre music content covering Pop, Hip Hop, Rock, Dance, Indie and Urban. I Like Music also provides up to the minute breaking world news for Google (news.google.co.uk) and NewsNow (newsnow.co.uk). The site was organically grown from the back pockets of the co-founders (who still own 100% of the business). The team have laid strong foundations to be well positioned within the high growth digital media industry.
Crisp Thinking (Winner: Young Entrepreneur), Leeds

Crisp Thinking was founded in 2005 by Adam Hildreth, 22, to provide a new solution for internet child protection countering the growing threat of online grooming of young people. Crisp's Anti-Grooming Engine (AGE) provides children, teenagers and their parents with a safer internet experience by silently and invisibly tracking the things people are saying to them. Crisp's vision is to be the global leader in developing the next generation technologies that protect our children from the threat of online grooming and cyber bullying. With the AGE technology now proven, it is being rolled out across the UK during 2007 with a US and European rollout during the first quarter of 2008.
Truancy Call, Solihull

Truancy Call Limited provides three telecoms-based services for schools. Truancy Call, Text Someone and Call Parents. Truancy Call (www.truancycall.com) is an automatic parent notification system that allows school staff to implement first day contact with parents of absentees via text message, phone call and email. Text Someone (www.textsomeone.com) encourages victims of bullying to report incidents to schools using text messages, phone call or online. Call Parents (www.callparents.com) is designed to enable school to keep parents or guardians constantly informed of all school activities via text message, phone call or e-mail.
Acumen Community Enterprise Development Trust Ltd, Peterlee

Acumen is a social enterprise, which aims to achieve social and economic regeneration through learning, enterprise and employment. A skilled team of community engagement staff, learning tutors, employment advisers and business coaches work out in the community to encourage people who have low skills and have not worked for some time to realise their potential. The company now delivers employability programmes across the North East.
Across the Divide Expeditions, Chard, Somerset

A travel company specialising in charity and corporate challenges, Across the Divide started with just three trips in 1997 and have since grown to 60 trips for various charities and companies and has facilitated the raising of over £45 million.

They are specialists in managing large scale complex adventure challenges both in the UK and overseas. Their most recent example of this was the 'Wild Coast Challenge' that they staged for CapGemini in support of the Prince's Trust. Thirty teams raced against the clock from the Bristol Channel via Exmoor to the English Channel, which raised over £100K for the trust. Their largest event to date has carried in excess of 2000 participants.
Stick and Go Ltd, Stourbridge

Stick and Go is a wall tile that does not need cementing, or grouting and can be applied over existing tiles or directly on to any smooth wall or surface. The website has grown to be eight times its original sales turnover and the brand name of Stick and Go Tiles is growing internationally with over 70 per cent of sales coming from the USA. The website has also recently attracted the attention of the world's largest retailer in the USA and an invitation has been extended to Stick and Go Ltd to present the product range to them, allowing the opportunity to take the product to the retail stores both in the UK & USA.