Local News

6 February 2012

Finalists shine at the HW Young Entrepreneur awards

The Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 competition was won by Tara Burn, owner of Combined Counties Fire and Surrey First Aid Training Limited.

Tara (28), from Frimley, set up Combined Counties Fire and Surrey First Aid Training Limited in 2007 to deliver training nationwide in all aspects of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Gary Heywood, a partner at HW and Chairman of the judges, said, “It was extremely close because each candidate was of such a high calibre but Tara took the title for showing true entrepreneurial flair in spotting opportunities and turning them into viable businesses - and for her commitment and energy.”

Tara said, “It was fantastic to win. The day was an amazing experience, meeting successful entrepreneurs and other young aspiring business people and exchanging ideas. Winning topped it all off and I was so pleased that my plans for business growth and development were well received and that the judges shared my passion for the concepts I am working on for the future.”

The other finalists were: Enzo Bertolone – Glitterati Hair Limited, Duncan Carter – Compass Estate Agents, Peter Higgs – PGH Pest Control & Prevention and Paul Feakins – Antropy Consulting Limited. They all gave a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style presentation on their business and were asked searching questions by the judges.

The other judges from HW were partners David Smy, Peter Wright and Jane Wills. Guest judge was Nigel Botterill, owner of ‘The Best Of’ online network and other franchise and internet-based businesses. As a serial entrepreneur, Nigel was able to share his experiences with the finalists after the judging and they all received a free one-year membership of his ‘Entrepreneurs’ Circle’.

The finalists are also offered a year of free mentoring with HW Partners, who are looking forward to supporting them with advice and ideas as they progress their businesses. The runners-up received cheques for £250 and Tara collected her additional winning £500 prize money.

As well as hearing from Nigel Botterill, HW was delighted to welcome back inspirational guest speaker, Stafford Carrington. Despite being only 32 years old Stafford is a self-made millionaire and has grown Impact Business Group through recognising good opportunities, hard graft, learning from mistakes and keeping it fun.

Gary Heywood said of the event, “The Haines Watts Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition 2011 has been run against a difficult economic backdrop and yet we have heard from some amazing young entrepreneurs, who are succeeding in business despite this. HW applauds their determination, talent and hard work and wishes them all many congratulations. Their talent really shines through and they are an inspiration for all of us.”

The finalists:

• Winner: Tara Burn - Combined Counties Fire and Surrey First Aid. This national training company delivers training in safer handling, first aid, food safety, specialist courses in drug adminstration and fire safety courses. As well as training in the workplace they offer their head office in Guildford for small businesses and individuals. www.surreyfirstaid.com

  www.combinedcountiestraining.com

• Peter Higgs, 23. Peter has been running PGH Pest Control & Prevention since 2009 and operates in the south of the UK. The company undertakes both contract and single call outs for commercial and domestic customers and covers all pests, from insects to rodents and birds. They are supported by the Princes Trust and use non toxic solutions. www.pghpestcontrol.co.uk

• Duncan Carter, 24. Duncan set up Compass Estate Agents in 2010 as an independently owned estate agency, focusing on the whole of Basingstoke. The agency covers residential sales, property management and letting and inhouse mortgage and insurance services. www.compass‐property.co.uk

• Enzo Bertolone, 30. Enzo opened Glitterati Hair Limited in 2007 and Glitterati Boutique hair salon, located in the town, is very popular with the local clientele and has a strong celebrity following. The salon and stylists follow a philosophy of “Beautiful Hair: Beautiful People” instilling confidence, pride and individual style into all their clients. www.glitteratihair.com

• Paul Feakins, 29. Paul founded Antropy Consulting Limited in 2008 to provide web development and web applications to SMEs and large corporates in London and the home counties. www.antropy.co.uk

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