News. What's going on in Furness
Furness takes a trophy from national enterprise awards
Furness Enterprise is celebrating again after its victory in the national Enterprising Britain Awards. Following a win in the regional heats of a competition to find the UK Capital of Enterprise, Furness went through to the national round and to compete with top locations from 12 UK regions. In a star-studded ceremony held at 11 Downing Street on Thursday 16th October, Furness Enterprise was delighted to be recognised and highly commended for its work and to receive a trophy from non other than celebrity Dragon, Peter Jones. The Furness win followed close behind Herefordshire (West Midlands) and eventual winners Scarborough (Yorkshire.)
John Barker, project manager at Furness Enterprise and head of the Encouraging Entrepreneurship in Furness project, said:
“The news still hasn’t quite sunk in. We were delighted to be crowned regional capital of enterprise back in June and we just didn’t know what to expect from the national awards ceremony. I didn’t expect to be coming back to Barrow with a trophy in my bag! This award recognises the work we have done over the past five years to encourage and support enterprise in Furness through a lively programme of events, publications, online activity and establishing new networks. Thanks to all our partners who made winning this award possible. We will now be making contact with other enterprising places from across the UK to exchange ideas and good practice. In Furness, we will make the most of this win to become an even finer location for anyone wanting to start a business or be an enterprising employee.”
The Furness application was particularly commended for its work in encouraging new business start ups, promoting enterprise in young people, establishing an innovative network with the Furness Young Professionals (FYP) and working with local companies and public sector partners to establish a ‘can do’ and confident attitude in Furness.’’
Enterprising Britain 2008 is a nationwide competition run by Make Your Mark on behalf of the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), and in partnership with the Northwest Regional Development Agency. Now in its fourth year, the competition celebrates and rewards the most enterprising areas the UK; those places of enterprise excellence that have helped transform the social and economic fortunes for their area. Furness came 3rd out of 84 UK wide applicants.
Posted by Phil Powell on 20th October 2008
