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Bdaily’s top 10 rising North East entrepreneurs of 2014

Bdaily presents the North East’s rising entrepreneurs of 2014. Check out some of our favourite budding businessmen and women from the region who have impressed us this year.

1. Andy Stephenson, Weekend Box

First up is Andy Stephenson, the man behind the increasingly popular ‘Weekend Box’. Andy started his childrens activity business last year and has gone on to see sales increase dramatically.

Weekend Box currently employs 13 staff across two locations in Newcastle and one in Scarborough, North Yorkshire and is now aiming to recruit more bodies to meet the the growing demand that his come with the company’s growth and success.

Andy and co were also recognised for their success recently, winning the Big Start Up Loans Competition 2014.

2. Alice Blackie, Pink Boutique

How could we talk about young entrepreneurs in the region without mentioning Alice Blackie?

Alice, 26, set Pink Boutique in 2012 to pay for the mortgage on her house. Now two years later the business operates from a 30,000 sq ft site in Newcastle upon Tyne, has a workforce of 40 and sells over 2,000 dresses a day, shipping across the world.

Alice received the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award at the North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards for her online retail business.

3. Kelly Wright, Krystellie

Another impressive, young, fashionable female worth a mention is Kelly Wright.

At the age of just 17, Kelly launched her own online fashion store after leaving college and giving birth to her first child. The 24-year-old has announced that her retail exploit, Krystellie, is expecting to achieve an annual turnover of £300k.

The single mum-of-two began running her business from a Middlesbrough council house living room. She now has regular customers across the UK and has taken on staff recently.

4. John Famelton, Inline Fitness Centre Ltd

Now we go from the fashionistas to the fitness buffs, remember John Famelton? The fitness entrepreneur’s Inline Fitness Centre Ltd in Blaydon opened earlier this year.

The 30 year-old invested £100k in his business after saving for four years, and now has nearly 100 members at the centre and plans to double the size of his Chainbridge Road premises, taking on more staff.

5. Michael Warren and Andrew Douglas, FSI Gym

North East fitness duo, Michael Warren and Andrew Douglas, invested £60k in a strength and conditioning gym based on Norham Road in North Shields, earlier this summer.

The pair opened FSI Gym (Functional Strength Institute) and soon introduced their own education programme, Elite Performance Education, as well as their own online broadcast FSI TV. Not bad eh?

6. Minna Scaife, Pikku

Newcastle entrepreneur Minna Scaife opened a new children’s retail concept store, Pikku, in Gosforth, Newcastle after receiving funding from PNE group.

Pikku, a brand new children’s clothing store and adjoining children’s hairdressing salon, opened on Gosforth High Street earlier this Autumn.

Fun fact: Pikku means ‘Little One’ in Finnish. Why, you ask? Well, Minna hails from Finland and brings some international flair to our list!

7. Joseph Robson, Cullerhosts

Time to talk tech!

Young programmer Joseph Robson, found his dreams of joining the Air Force grounded at the age of 18; he instead went on to set-up a fast growing web design business.

Whilst at the college Joseph had developed an inventory system which tracked equipment leaving the hanger for repair using iPad barcode scanners.

After initially setting up website design and development company Cullerhosts in a friend’s garage in 2012, Joseph recently moved the business to new premises in Newcastle to cope with increasing demand for the company’s website and hosting services.He is the youngest entry on our list!

8. Steven Ong, Stevie Cuts

A teenage passion for cutting hair and a dream of running his own business has led 25 year old Steven Ong to open Stevie Cuts (and more importantly enter our top ten!), a barbershop that he plans will be the first of a chain across the North East.

Steven, who lives in Prudhoe, Northumberland, has opened Stevie Cuts in premises at the Infinity Fitness Gym in Lead Road, Greenside, Ryton, but has ambitious plans for the future.

The chain he plans will include a number of American-style barber shops where customers can also play pool, relax and have a drink.

Stevie Cuts opened last month yet the young entrepreneur is already building up a loyal clientele, not only in the local area but also from as far afield as Newcastle and Morpeth.

9. Jenny Scott and Corrie Thomas, Seasons Plenty

Jenny Scott, 24 and Corrie Thomas 25 from Newcastle last year set up Seasons Plenty, a catering business, to make use of their love of international travel. This year the duo received a £14k boost to grow the business further.

The pair combined 20 years of experience in the food industry and are one of the first businesses to have been awarded financing through new enterprise loan provider, Virgin StartUp.

We couldn’t do a top ten list without including food now could we? Well done ladies!

10. Joshua Kerr, Now Film Ltd

Young filmmaker Joshua Kerr has established a flourishing production company in Gateshead and has turned his attention to helping other startups.

Joshua’s ambition is to target the burgeoning start-up scene in the region, with the view to securing long-term clients as the business grow.

Using his fresh experience of life in a startup, Joshua is gearing Now Film Ltd to appeal to the budgets of entrepreneurs who want to pursue film projects.

Joshua’s inclusion exemplifies the ever-growing creative potential of the region.

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