Press Releases

DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS IDEA TO MAKE OUR ENVIRONMENT A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

4 April 2007

Enterprise Ventures is delighted to be a partner in The Lancaster Environment Centre Business Creation Competition 2007, being organised by The Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University.

The competition will look to find creative and realistic environmentally-focused business ideas, to create new North-West based businesses which identify:-

  • A clear product/service within the environmental technology sector
  • The opportunity, timing, strategy to capture it, and benefits over competitors
  • A scalable business, not just serving a very local area
  • How barriers to entry can be overcome and placed in the way of others
  • The resources needed and a strategy to provide these
  • The team, why the opportunity is right for them and additional skills needed
  • The potential rewards via a P/L account, cash flow forecast and balance sheet
  • The major risks and investment required

This year's business creation competition will see four winners, picked by a panel of business experts, receiving:-

  • 12 months' accommodation in the University's prestigious new on-campus and fully equipped business incubation and co-location faacility
  • Training and mentoring to develop and redefine their business plan
  • £500 of technical consultancy by LU researchers and help establishing links with them
  • Advice on protecting intellectual property
  • Help with the costs of legal incorporation
  • Help identifying and accessing collaborative grant funding
  • Assistance with e-commerce and website development
  • Training on preparing a funding pitch
  • Exposure to potential investors
  • Use of a PC with MS Office, braodband and discounted printing/phone
  • Preferential consideration for transfer into their own office after 12 months.

To apply, please contact Chris Holroyd at The Lancaster Innovation Centre via email at c.p.holroyd@lancs.ac.uk or via telephone on 01524 510228 with your name and contact details to register your interest in the competition and to obtain a copy of the application form and guidance notes.

All completed application forms should be returned by email to Chris Holroyd on or before 31 July 2007.

Applications will then be judged by an expert panel drawn from partner organisations, which include Enterprise Ventures, Lonsdale Partners, CLB Coopers, Rainbow Seed Fund, Barclays and Sharp Marketing.

The winners will be announced in mid September 2007 for mid October entry.

For further information, please see the website as http://www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/ebp/competition