Partner Article

Pure pouches bags top award

A business idea for a new type of party bag has scooped the overall prize at Northumbria University’s Business Plan Competition Awards held at the Centre for Life.

Gillian Gordon and Donna Hildrew walked away with the Business Viability Award and £1000 in prize money for their business plan for Pure Pouches - a company which will provide children with party bags containing ethically sourced products which are natural and safe.

Gillian said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be walking away with the Business Viability Award for Pure Pouches. Winning this award has given us the extra confidence to exploit a real gap in the market by providing imaginative party bags, which differentiate between genders and also consider the needs of children with allergies and disabilities.

“The prize money will definitely be put to good use. We haven’t decided exactly what we are going to spend it on but it certainly will be put back into the company.”

This win will automatically enter Pure Pouches into the Blueprint regional business plan competition which brings together all five North East universities and showcases promising business ideas from the region’s graduates and undergraduates.

Roger Candy, business partnerships manager at Northumbria University, said: “With 164 entrants this year, the sixth Northumbria Business Challenge Awards event has seen another excellent crop of business plan entries which is testimony to the support that the Enterprise Campus team, with the assistance of our business mentors, have given to our diverse range of business starts throughout the year.

“Although we had many impressive entries, Pure Pouches stood out as an obvious winner, demonstrating an impressive combination of business acumen and innovation.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .