Three North East entrepreneurs shortlisted in £1,000 challenge

Three North East entrepreneurs have been named as finalists in the £1,000 Business Challenge, run by Metro Radio and Virgin Money, and supported by PNE Group and Virgin Unite.

Exactly 100 hopefuls applied, whether they were in their first year of trading or were hoping to bring a great business idea to market; writing a business pitch in just 300 words or less.

Eight semi-finalists were given the chance to bring their pitch to life in person, presenting to a panel of enterprise experts from Virgin Money, Project North East, Virgin Unite and Metro Radio.

The North East finalists are now looking for votes via social media. They include Andy Stephenson of Weekend Box Club, a activity pack idea for children aged three to eight; Nikita Hatfield of Look Good Feel Good, a Teesside-based independent fashion store; and Shambo Matia and Cheng Zeng of LED t-shirts.

Pete Wood, Virgin Money’s Head of Social Enterprise Projects, including the Start-Up Loans scheme in the North East and Cumbria, said: “We are delighted to be able to support driven young business minds in new and innovative ways, and backing this challenge is part of that.

“All the business ideas that were submitted were great and we want to thank everyone for taking part. Now we need help from the North East public to choose which of the three will win the challenge. We are looking forward to revealing the winner and seeing their business become a vibrant new company in the marketplace over the coming months.”

To be in with a chance at bagging an iPad, vote for your favourite business idea here. And to find out more about the Start-Up Loans scheme in the North East, as well as the new ‘Lean’ loans and how to apply, young entrepreneurs should visitstartuploansnortheast.co.uk.