Make Your Mark Blog

Last night I popped along to the first ever enterprise master class at the National Enterprise Academy, a skills academy established by Peter Jones and backed by the government. We heard a great talk from Make Your Mark Ambassador David Hathiramani from A Suit That Fits.com. It was really inspiring stuff, and I came away from the event totally convinced that, as David said, “there is no better time to ask your parents for a loan” and start grabbing opportunities in enterprise. Whether I can convince my parents is another matter.

Last year the number of new start-ups actually rose by 1%, according to figures from Barclays.

Interestingly it was female-only start-ups leading the way - with a 9% increase on 2007 - compared with just under 1% growth of male-only start-ups.

Even though the credit crunch only got properly underway in September 2008, its still an encouraging sign that people are wanting to and are start businesses. Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a lot of negative speculation about how aspiring and fully-fledged entrepreneurs have been, or will be, responding to the recession - often based on flimsy research. A little bit of optimism is a good thing at the moment.

I am seeing more and more projects emerging which give young people a voice, and allow them to put forward their view of the world. In a society which often seems intent on demonising young people, at a time when we need them most, this seems more important than ever.

Later this afternoon I’ll be popping along to a Battlefront event, showcasing a whole host of young campaigners who are all out doing amazing things for good causes. Year Dot also showcases some great stories.

Warren and David of A Suit That Fits.com, Photograph by Rankin for the BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur

Started by Make Your Mark Ambassadors Warren Bennett and David Hathiramani, A Suit That Fits.com is the world’s first online hand-tailored suit-making company, offering the largest range of quality suits in the UK. Warren recently managed to take time out from his part in running their £1.5million turnover business to visit a local school – read on to find out how he got on.

As aSuitThatFits.com has opened up a new branch in Cambridge, Warren took the opportunity to pay a visit to his old school, The Perse. Both Warren and David are Ambassadors for Mark Your Mark and were brought up in Cambridge.

Warren said, “It is great to be back at The Perse and inspiring the young entrepreneurs of the future”.
Warren spoke to the inaugural meeting of the Entrepreneurs’ Society at The Perse about what it is really like to start up a business and run it successfully. Many of the Sixth Formers said that after the talk, they felt that entrepreneurship seemed like something that was possible. Everyone has heard of Richard Branson, but knowing someone who has actually done it makes everything seem more real.

As you may have heard on the radio, this week Peter Jones (Chair of Enterprise Insight which runs the Make Your Mark campauign) was asked to call Christian O’Connell on Absolute Radio’s breakfast show, for the “Who’s Calling Christian Competition” to be in with a chance to win £20,000 for a charity of his choice. As a bit of background, the premise of the game is to find celebrities on an impromptu basis and persuade them to call Christian O’Connell.

Check us out here, here and here!

Yay!

The winners of the 2009 Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits Awards were announced today (Tuesday 24 March 2009) at a very swanky ceremony at the Institute of Directors (IoD), London.

They were each presented with a trophy and £1,000 prize money by Chancellor Alistair Darling, who made time to chat to finalists and hear their positive stories.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is proud to support the launch of Diaspora, the non-profit music foundation that will aim to ensure equality in music exists for everyone at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green on Tuesday 31st March 2009.

Chaired by UKTI’s International Business Specialist for the Music Industry and Diaspora ‘fellow’ Phil Patterson, the event will involve a panel of representatives from music associations and trade bodies across London.

This panel has been selected from some of London’s best musical minds in response to the needs of an audience including upcoming artists, record labels and music organisations who have the potential to become leaders within the music industry.

Well, as for all the negative press and comments about recessions and credit crunches, at the Women in Business event attended by fourteen entrepreneurs and MP, Yvette Cooper in Castleford today there wasn’t a single moan or groan in sight, just positive comments and the most tremendous inspirational stories.

Each person around the table had a different tale to tell and what made it more interesting was that they were so varied and in some cases sparked off a round of giggles – from recession busting ‘oldies’ to decisions between marrying a rich man or getting a job – the job won!

wefollow.com has started league tables of people tagging their twitter feeds with certain search terms. I had a look at the entrepreneur tag which we have and was very impressed to see ambassador @joeldrapper in at number 18 on the list (which isn’t just UK based) with an incredible 13,318 followers. How does he do it?!

Also in there was @sweetmandarin, written by our ambassadors the Tse sisters up in Manchester who have 2685 followers and @hermoineway with 2184 followers.

A report on the World Entrepreneur Society’s 2009 Summit, from Make Your Mark Ambassador Vernon Kerswell.

I had the privilege to attend this event as a Make your Mark Ambassador. Dedicated to entrepreneurs, it was organised by the World Entrepreneur Society, held at the prestigious Goodenough College, London. The theme… “What keeps you awake at night?”

This event, now in its second year, was organised to bring together great minds to share, learn and celebrate enterprise. It was largely attended by entrepreneurs who had made it in their business. Executives rolling up for a prompt 9am start armed with their Blackberries and iPhones in hand, twittering as they went. It was also well attended by the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, some of whom had fledgling businesses and others who had just begun their journey. With a ticket price of £120 (£55 for students) it made this event even more exclusive, and for those just starting out, even in a recession, it was a good investment for those wanting to meet like minded people.

This week I popped along to see Make Your Mark in the Mall finalist Benjamin Allen. Benjamin, who, along with his dad, run Raphael. With two shops already established and running in Norwich and Lowestoft, Benjamin saw the Make Your Mark in the Mall competition as a way of testing the water for some new products.

Raphael currently source their products, which include jewellery and sculptures from Indonesia - visiting the country two or three times a year and sourcing producs from over 70 familes. Benjamin pointed out that by doing this, these families were given guaranteed regular work and paid for their work fairly.

You may have read in the paper about the new appointment of the Tidjane Thiam. As head of insurance company The Prudential he will be the first black chief executive, and will now be the ‘The man from the Pru’. This is not only great news for Arsenal fans (he flies the Gunner flag) but also great news for us all. It can only be a good thing when the business landscape is reflective of the society it serves and to have such a role model is very cool. At Make Your Mark we are huge fans of role models and our Ambassadors (don’t forget to vote for your favourite EYBer!) and Pioneers are the best enterprise champions we could hope for. If you are interested in finding out more about out role models please check out our website.

The four finalists in the live cook off were Summer Earnshaw from Ossett High School, Tori Jeffery and Nicole Stewart-Rushworth from Outwood Grange High School and Josh Angell from St Wilfrid’s R.C High School.

Keeping their cool in the final held at Gaskells Restaurant in Wakefield College the four finalists had an hour to create their own unique Michelin Star fine dining dishes using fresh, seasonal, whole food produce. Cheered on by family and friends they then presented their mouth-watering delights to the awaiting judges, including Michelin Star Chef Frances Atkins from the Yorke Arms, Pateley Bridge and Wakefield’s Mayor, Councillor Jacqui Williams and Wakefield College’s Head of Hospitality, Catering, Travel and Tourism.

You know what we need more of? Great people doing great things.

People growing a global economy through knowledge sharing, fair trade initiatives and investment in community enterprises abroad.

People boosting our own economy through innovation and smart use of technology, creating local jobs, solving everyday problems and growing their business at an exponential rate.

Social entrepreneurs helping us to care for an improve our environment, and giving communities new opportunities whether they’re on farms or in film studios.

Inspiring young people using their passion for music, cinema and technology to make an impact no matter their age.