Being told off by his mother for forgetting to bring the washing in before it rained was the incentive for Roger Hind to develop the Rotamate two years ago.
At 21, Gareth Harca identified two gaps in the market that he filled with his companies InstaHedge and RentaHedge. Two companies? Isn't that hedging your bets?
Lotty Cunningham set up dance and drama company, Streetz Ahead after noticing that there were very few activities in her local area for young people to take part in during their free time.
Dean Rhodes Brandon, who is deaf, set up yourlocalcinema.com to help the 5 million people in the UK with hearing or visual impairments who enjoy going to the cinema.
Civil engineer Jane Campbell changed the way her whole company, MWH, records and presents what it does. She was a finalist in 2006's Enterprising Young Brits awards.
Finalist in the Innovation at Work category of 2006's Enterprising Young Brits awards, Loic. His idea to make shopping simpler was so successful, it was picked up by every Tescos store and earned Loic a promotion.
Sophia Kyriacou, a project manager at Camelot, the operator of the National Lottery, came up with a groundbreaking scratch card design while at home at the weekend watching TV.
James' ideas took him from runner at ?What If! to setting up and managing the Footprint project, which drives social innovation. He won the Innovation at Work category of 2006's Enterprising Young Brits.
Steph Cutler was working as a fashion designer when her sight began to deteriorate, inspiring her to set up Image Intelligence.
Blue Ventures is a pioneering marine conservation and development organisation, set up by Alasdair Harris and based in London and Madagascar.
Simon was working in the charity sector when he decided that images of Africa ought to come from a local perspective, as well as providing employment and training opportunities for people who lived there.
Pro Active Sports aims to reduce health inequalities in young people by promoting physical activity and sports to primary school children who do not have a dedicated PE teacher.
Ed Bartlett used his passion for gaming to create a unique opportunitity for advertisers: to "engage new worlds" with in-game advertising.
Oliver and Nicola set up Natural Magic in 2005 as a new high-end organic beauty brand using all natural ingredients. After one month online, Selfridges wanted to stock Natural Magic candles; after six months both partners had quit their day jobs in private equities and media, to focus on the venture.
Robert Wilson set up READ International to recycle books and other educational resources by redistributing them in Tanzania.
Jay Cousins designed the Orikaso range of lightweight, folding cups and plates whilst at university and has since turned the idea into a business that retails in 30 countries worldwide.
James Tuthill’s graduation concept of the eglu led to him and three friends from the Royal College of Art in London, Johannes Paul, Simon Nicholls and William Windham, all in their mid-twenties, to form Omlet in 2004.
Sixteen-year-old Sam Stern is currently studying for his A-levels and has already launched two acclaimed cookbooks aimed at teenagers.
Tanya had never thought of herself as an engineer, but an assignment on her A-Level course in product design led to the HypoHoist and opened up an exciting career path for her.
Philip Robinson is the inventor of the ZorinPump which integrates a bicycle seat and a powerful floor pump which combines track performance with hand pump mobility.
