PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

Last Thursday, we held the Wales Start-Up Awards in Cardiff, and it was great to be back in the familiar surroundings of the Depot with 450 finalists, friends and supporters there to celebrate the best new businesses in Wales. It was also a good time to reflect on the decision to take the awards out of Wales and on the road across the UK as part of a new National Start-Up Awards series.  Over the last four weeks, we have visited Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast, Birmingham, Reading, Bristol and Manchester with only London left to go in September as a result of the recent train strike. It has certainly been a challenge to take the concept to different cities, especially given that there are no other similar awards recognising and celebrating start-ups across all sectors of the economy. However, I am happy to say that the response from the start-ups themselves has been overwhelming in every part of the UK and we have been fortunate perhaps to capture the real entrepreneurial spirit that h...

Earlier this week, I chaired the final judging panels for the 2022 National Startup of the Year awards. Comprising of over 100 entrepreneurs and business supporters who had given their time to support the recognition of the best new businesses in the UK, it was a difficult process given the quality of so many of the entries. Having initially started the Wales Start-up Awards back in 2016 as a way of celebrating the best new Welsh businesses, I took what seems like a crazy decision last year to extend them to every region and nation of the UK.  Fortunately, I haven’t had to do this myself after partnering with Cardiff-based Ideas Forums, who organise the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, to manage the expansion across the nation.  Despite the hard work, it is has been an amazing journey with over 2,500 entries being whittled down to 900 finalists that have a collective turnover of £300 million and are employing over 5000 people across the UK.  Reading those stories of ent...