Enterprise Britain 2008 - Last chance to enter

Enterprising Britain, a competition which spotlights areas of "enterprise excellence" from across the UK, is now in its 4th year. The aim of the competition is to reward places that have helped transform the social and economic fortunes of their communities. The national winner will be crowned the most enterprising places in the UK.

Deadlines for entries to Enterprise Britain 2008 range from the 18 April 2008 in Scotland and the South East to the 9 May 2008 in the East Midlands. For more details on the entry requirements, click here.

Launching the competition, Shriti Vadera, Minister for Business and Competitiveness for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), said:

“Enterprise, especially small businesses, start-ups and growing companies are the heart of the UK’s economy. I support this grass-roots campaign, which identifies and celebrates the regions where enterprise has created jobs, brought communities together and made a real difference to local business and local people.”

Peter Jones, entrepreneur and Enterprising Britain 2008 judge, said:

“As an Enterprising Britain judge, I have been extremely impressed by the strength, determination and innovative thinking demonstrated by those people who have used enterprise to transform the social and economic fortunes of their community. The Enterprising Britain competition is a great chance for enterprise success stories from across the UK to shine - I am really looking forward to finding out what 2008 holds in store.”

Last year’s Enterprising Britain winner was the North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone, (NSRZ), an initiative that is helping to reverse the economic decline of the area formally known as the Potteries, by setting up various innovative enterprise initiatives. As well as supporting over 500 new start-up businesses, and helping to create more than 1,000 new jobs, NSRZ, set up numerous enterprise education projects, including a “live” fruit trading floor game for primary school students that teaches the basics of profit and loss.