Digital education service sees North East tech entrepreneur shortlisted for national award

29-year-old Jack Deverson of Evidence Based Education is amongst the ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ finalists in this year’s Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Evidence Based Education was set up to deliver online and on-site training to teachers and schools, nationally and internationally by academic and Prof. Stuart Kime, and Jack Deverson, who is fluent in Chinese and German. EBE aims to deliver teacher training in a sustainable way, and to deliver long-term benefits to recipients.

The company has since gone on to provide training to over 40,000 teachers across the globe, from the UK to as far afield as China, the UAE and the US, and is hoping the launch of its new cloud-based platform, the ‘Great Teaching Toolkit’, will see the company continue to chalk up success as it continues to innovate and grow.

Jack said: “Over the past few years, it felt like we were spinning plates at times when launching the Great Teaching Toolkit as we were balancing recruiting and onboarding staff, with investing in the new product development, and all the while keeping the day-to-day business running…

“We’re now in a position however where we’re seeing all of that hard work really come off and I can’t thank the team enough for their efforts. Since launching in September 2021, the GTT has been accessed by more than 12,000 teachers across the globe and has really helped the business grow.”

The shortlisting isn’t the first time Evidence Based Education has received national acclaim. As well as having been supported by Cambridge University in the past, the company also made headlines when it was awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation in 2019.

Deverson added: “Since those initial conversations I had with co-founder Prof. Stuart Kime prior to launching the business, we always had an inkling that we were on to something that could really transform the education sector, but even we have been surprised by the company’s success to date.

“This may be a ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ award but, for me, it is a personal award in name only. It would never have been possible without the work of our team and it is an award that we should all be incredibly proud to be shortlisted for and I’m sure we’ll all enjoy the night in London to celebrate.”

The company relocated to Sunderland from Durham in January 2019 and has been supported by Sunderland City Council’s Business Investment Team from the outset. Cllr Graeme Miller, leader of the council, has heaped praise on Jack and the team for their continued success.

He said: “To be shortlisted for yet another national award is not only a proud moment for the team, but for the entire city as we celebrate another of our fantastic businesses disrupting industries not only in the UK, but across the globe.”