Shortlist announced for North East Entrepreneurial Awards

Seven business leaders spanning technology, manufacturing, retail, leisure and recycling have been named as finalists in a regional awards programme celebrating the people turning North East ideas and ambition into growing businesses.

The 2026 North East Entrepreneurial Awards have revealed the contenders for two of their flagship categories ahead of this November’s ceremony, which will form one of the centrepieces of the inaugural North East Entrepreneurship Week.

Imran Anwar, Joanna Feeley, Michael Hall and Andy Gough, and Kate Rose have been shortlisted for Entrepreneurial Excellence, while Jonny Catto, Vikki Jackson-Smith and Tim Wilks will compete for Entrepreneur of the Year.

Hosted by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, the awards have celebrated the people behind some of the region’s most successful businesses since 2004.

This year, however, they will take place against a much wider backdrop.

Running from November 11 to 20 under the banner of The Place to Rise, North East Entrepreneurship Week will bring together founders, investors, educators and business organisations through a regionwide programme aimed at inspiring more people to start businesses and helping ambitious companies fulfil their growth potential.

N Magazine and Bdaily publisher NET is supporting the initiative as media partner, with the awards providing another opportunity to shine a light on the entrepreneurs building businesses from the North East and taking them into markets across the UK and internationally.

And the seven finalists provide a snapshot of the breadth of that entrepreneurial community.

Their businesses span digital innovation and future trends through to jewellery, manufacturing, waste management and competitive socialising.

Some have spent more than two decades steadily building their companies; others have scaled rapidly in highly competitive markets.

Between them, they have expanded internationally, created hundreds of jobs, invested millions of pounds, completed acquisitions and built businesses that have become increasingly prominent far beyond the region.

The Entrepreneurial Excellence award

The Entrepreneurial Excellence award recognises founders building strong, resilient businesses with turnover below £25 million, with judges looking at consistent performance, leadership and their wider contribution to the North East.

Among this year’s finalists is Imran Anwar, founder of innovation and digital product agency Alt Labs.

Built in the North East, the business has expanded its reach beyond the region and today has a presence in London and Riyadh.

Working at the intersection of innovation, technology and digital product development, Alt Labs’ growth has been accompanied by recognition for the culture Imran has sought to create around the business, with the company named among The Sunday Times Best Places to Work in 2026.

Imran’s inclusion reflects one of the recurring themes behind Entrepreneurship Week: the potential for companies created in the North East to use the region as a platform for much wider growth rather than viewing geography as a limitation.

That international outlook is shared by fellow finalist Joanna Feeley, founder and chief executive of TrendBible.

From its North East base, the future trends agency has developed an international reputation, working with global brands across more than 35 countries.

The company helps organisations understand how people’s lives, homes and behaviours are changing, translating those shifts into intelligence that can inform future products and commercial decisions.

Its journey is another example of a specialist North East company building a client base far beyond its home market while retaining its roots in the region.

Joining Imran and Joanna on the shortlist are Michael Hall and Andy Gough, who have led the transformation of eQuality Solutions Group (eQS).

Through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions, the pair have developed eQS into a growing national business.

Their place among the finalists reflects a different route to entrepreneurial growth: combining the development of an existing operation with carefully targeted acquisitions to increase scale and capability.

Completing the Entrepreneurial Excellence shortlist is Kate Rose, founder of North East jewellery and lifestyle brand TUTTI.

When N Magazine recently sat down with Kate, she reflected on a journey that began not in a purpose-built studio or with significant outside investment, but at her parents’ home.

Determined to remain in the North East at a time when creative opportunities were relatively limited, she launched TUTTI from her parents’ conservatory before gradually developing a wholesale operation that took its designs into increasingly prominent retailers.

More than two decades later, the brand is stocked by names including Fenwick, John Lewis, Macy’s and Nordstrom, while its North East roots continue to influence its designs.

TUTTI has also entered a new chapter with the opening of its first concept store and studio at Harbour House, in North Shields, alongside an expansion from jewellery into clothing.

Having grown the company without external investment, Kate is now targeting further strategic growth, including continued international expansion, with the US, New Zealand and Australia among its key markets.

Kate Rose, founder of TUTTI. Photograph by Andrew Lowe.

Entrepreneur of the Year award

If Entrepreneurial Excellence reflects businesses progressing towards greater scale, the Entrepreneur of the Year category recognises founders who have already taken companies beyond the £25 million revenue mark while delivering sustained growth and contributing to the regional economy.

The three finalists have done so in markedly different industries.

For Jonny Catto, co-founder and managing director of iPac Packaging Innovations, the journey has taken a North East manufacturing start-up into a rapidly expanding supplier to the food and pharmaceutical industries.

When N Magazine visited iPac last autumn, the scale of that growth was clear, with the Gateshead-based business having progressed from a ten-person operation turning over £500,000 in 2017 to a manufacturer employing around 100 people.

Expansion has included a second site at Tanfield, in County Durham, and a 10,000sq ft extension at its Gateshead headquarters, with a £10 million investment programme set to further increase its manufacturing capabilities.

Sustainability has also been central to the company’s development, with iPac using recycled PET and focusing on lightweight, recyclable packaging.

And its expansion shows little sign of slowing, with plans to bring more of the manufacturing process in-house through vertical integration and invest in new thermoforming lines.

The programme is also expected to create further jobs as iPac builds additional capacity to support its next phase of growth.

Jonny Catto, co-founder and managing director of iPac Packaging Innovations. Photograph by Andrew Lowe.

Joining Jonny on the Entrepreneur of the Year shortlist is Vikki Jackson-Smith, whose career at J&B Recycling spans almost three decades.

Vikki joined the family business directly from school, beginning on the weighbridge before developing an increasingly deep understanding of its logistics and operations.

What followed was a career intertwined with the growth of the company itself.

J&B developed into one of the North East’s leading recycling businesses, employing more than 200 people and processing upwards of 200,000 tonnes of waste and recyclable material annually before Vikki completed a successful exit.

The journey was not without considerable challenges.

A major fire in 2008 forced the company to rethink its operations, ultimately moving to a 24-hour model, while the Covid-19 pandemic presented another test as essential waste services had to continue despite unprecedented restrictions and disruption.

Alongside those events, the company navigated volatile commodity markets, integrated two acquisitions and continued investing in technology, operations and its workforce.

The final Entrepreneur of the Year contender is Tim Wilks, founder of Lane7.

Launched in Newcastle in 2013, Lane7 has helped shape the growth of competitive socialising by bringing together games, technology, food and drink within highly designed leisure venues.

What began in Newcastle has grown into an international operation with 24 venues across the UK, Ireland and Germany.

With more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience, Tim remains particularly drawn to the creative side of the business, from finding new sites and shaping customer journeys to overseeing fit-outs and opening venues.

As Lane7 has expanded, so too has the scale and complexity of the operation, with the business continuing to take its Newcastle-born concept into new markets.

Despite now living in Bristol, Tim also retains strong connections to the region where Lane7 began, returning regularly and describing his time away as having strengthened his appreciation of Newcastle and the wider North East.

Speaking about the finalists, Elaine Stroud, chief executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “Entrepreneurial success doesn’t all look the same.

“Some founders build businesses that grow at an extraordinary pace, while others build exceptional companies steadily over many years.

“And both deserve to be recognised.

“What connects this year’s finalists is the quality of what they have built and the leadership behind it.

“They are creating opportunities, employing people, developing strong teams, and showing what is possible from here in the North East.

“The Awards give us an opportunity to step back for an evening and celebrate those achievements properly.”

Elaine Stroud, chief executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum

A wider celebration of entrepreneurship

Together, the finalists demonstrate the different forms entrepreneurial success can take.

There are businesses developed steadily over decades and others that have moved rapidly through the scale-up journey.

Some sell physical products around the world; others export expertise and ideas.

Their routes to growth have included organic expansion, acquisitions, internationalisation, investment in manufacturing capacity and the creation of entirely new leisure concepts.

That diversity sits at the heart of North East Entrepreneurship Week, which aims to make successful founders more visible, connect entrepreneurs with experience and opportunity, and encourage more people to start and grow businesses in the region.

The initiative comes amid a longstanding gap in entrepreneurial activity. 

As highlighted in N Magazine’s recent interview with Elaine, the North East has 744 businesses for every 10,000 adults, compared with an England-wide average of 1062, while its start-up rate also trails the national picture.

Alongside the Entrepreneurial Awards, activity will include three ScaleUp Summits in Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, mentoring opportunities, school visits by experienced founders and a regionwide fringe programme.

Another major strand will be the new Ones to Watch Index, which will identify 20 emerging businesses and put them in front of investors at Durham University Business School on November 4.

One entrepreneur from the index will subsequently receive the new One to Watch award at the November ceremony.

It is one of three prizes that will not have a traditional shortlist.

The Caroline Theobald Award, recognising an entrepreneur who gives their time to mentor and champion others, will be announced on the night, alongside the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Those three honours will take the total number of awards presented to five.

The 2026 North East Entrepreneurial Awards take place at Hilton Newcastle Tyne Bridge on Thursday, November 19, as part of North East Entrepreneurship Week, which runs from November 11 to 20.

Tickets are on sale now, with the full The Place to Rise programme and details of how to get involved available at northeastentrepreneurshipweek.co.uk.

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