Partner Article

Small Business Success Competition Launched

Intuit QuickBooks, the global leader of online accounting software and principal sponsor of West Bromwich Albion Football Club, today launches a competition in a bid to uncover the best small business success stories in the West Midlands.

Launched in conjunction with the Birmingham Post and Mail, the competition – Small Business Big Success – invites entrants to describe their biggest success story and how they want to develop their business in 2015. The winning entrant will receive a prize package worth over £15,000 – including £5,000, 20 minutes of advertising on the Hawthorns pitch LED screens and free QuickBooks Online subscription for two years.

With over 99% of the private sector made up of SMEs, small businesses make a significant contribution to the health of the UK economy. This is especially true in the West Midlands region, with Birmingham emerging as a new hot spot for entrepreneurs to start their business. More than 16,000 start-ups were launched in the city in 2013, making it the top performing entrepreneurial city outside of the South East.

Rich Preece, Vice President and Country Manager, QuickBooks, comments, “We know that running a small business can be hard work, which is why we want to celebrate success stories, however big or small, and provide support for those looking to take their business to the next level.”

He continues, “Success to us isn’t just about being the most profitable or fastest growing SME. It might be about starting a business for the first time, getting ahead of plan, opening a new office, picking up a large new client or upping the number of employees. It’s about the everyday triumphs in starting, running and growing a business.”

Businesses have from today until Sunday, 1 March to enter the competition. The winner will then be selected by a panel of judges including Rich Preece, Adrian Wright, Marketing Director at West Bromwich Albion Football Club and Stacey Barnfield, Editor, Birmingham Post. In return, they’ll receive a prize package worth over £15,000, including £5,000, a full page article in the Birmingham Post, advertising at the Hawthorns at the West Bromwich Albion v Queen’s Park Rangers fixture on Saturday, 4 April, hospitality tickets to the match and free QuicksBooks Online subscription for two years.

Stacey Barnfield concludes: “The West Midlands is one of the country’s most vibrant and diverse hubs for SMEs, with a fantastically diverse mix of businesses achieving incredible things. We want to hear success stories from all kinds of small businesses across the region – from butchers and builders, to café owners and IT consultancies – so get your entries in.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rich Preece .