Top 10 young UK entrepreneurs, part III
LaunchLab.co.uk and the Make Your Mark campaign introduce 10 of the
UK's most exciting young entrepreneurs. Can you spot the next Branson
or Roddick? Here are numbers eight to 10.
8. James Steward
Built From Scratch Design Ltd.
www.builtfromscratch-design.co.uk
Twenty-five year-old James Steward set up design consultancy Built From Scratch Design Ltd in 2005, to turn Cyclepods from concept to product.
Cyclepods is a modern, innovative and space saving invention which stores 8 bikes in a 2meter diameter. The first Cyclepod was launched in just two months and clients such as Pepsi and Reebok have already ordered.
Since then, Built From Scratch Design Ltd has expanded its design portfolio extensively and has designed a range of street furniture for one of its top clients. New Cyclepod concepts have also been designed, including the Plastic Pod which has proved to be extremely popular.
James’ entrepreneurial activities were recognised at the Enterprising Young Brit awards 2005 when he received a special commendation in the Creative category, and he has also won the Shell Livewire 2006 award.
James also starred in a Channel Four documentary in 2007 called ‘Tricky Business’, a programme about young inventors getting their business off the ground.
9. Emily Cummins
Solar Powered Fridge
Twenty year-old Emily Cummins is an ethical inventor and entrepreneur whose latest invention – a sustainable fridge – is set to change the lives of people in the third world. The idea, developed during her self-funded gap year in Africa, was conceived as a solution to help combat global warming.
Emily decided to take refrigerator technology ‘back to basics’ and create a refrigerator that ran off sustainable energy. By using a medium such as sheep wool, which would hold water, the sun’s energy would be strong enough to cause the water to evaporate.
She created an inner cylinder to transfer the heat, leaving a completely dry and cold compartment.
As the technology is so simple Emily realised that her sustainable fridge would be perfect for use in the third world; it could be used to keep AIDS drugs and other medicines cool, as well as storing food and water.
Emily is now developing a second generation refrigerator which can cool to lower temperatures, and has recently visited Africa again where she began to teach people how to produce her first model.
She said, “The biggest problem I had was coming up with the idea, the problem. Once you find that, you can then start looking at other products, researching and developing.”
Emily has received a string of awards, including British Female Innovator of the Year award 2007 and the Diamond Award for Exceptional Creativity at the British Female Inventors and Innovators Awards. In addition, Emily was named the Technology Woman of the Future 2006, and is an Ambassador for the Make Your Mark campaign.
10. Sarah McVittie
Texperts: 660000
www.texperts.com
Sarah McVittie, 28, is the co-founder and CEO of Texperts, an organisation that enables UK mobile users to text any
question and receive an accurate answer within minutes.
With a desire for information on the go, Sarah and her business partner Thomas Roberts decided to create Textperts in 2005, when they were employed as Financial Analysts at an investment bank.
Research is mainly undertaken by home-based Texperts, who find that sport, science and entertainment are the most popular question categories, as well as that favourite British obsession - the weather!
Texperts now receives thousands of texts a day and has seen average month-on-month growth of 22%, with word of mouth providing to be the most effective marketing tool.
The company has won several accolades, including the 2005 Shell Livewire Award (East of England), 2005 Global messaging Award, the 2006 Natwest Startups Award (best use of Technology) as well as being recognised as the Best Angel-backed Business with Young Management for 2006.
This year, Sarah and her team received the Orange Best Use of Technology in Business Award and Textperts was also highly commended in the Business Innovation of the Year Award at the National Business Awards.
See also:
Top ten young UK entrepreneurs, part I
Top ten young UK entrepreneurs, part II
