Young Brighton and Hove entrepreneurs vie for £50k start-up prize

Young entrepreneurs from City College Brighton and Hove are getting close to turning their business dreams into reality with a £50,000 prize fund.

The Young Start-up Talent initiative is aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds in the area who have that special spark to start up in business.

In the hotly contested semi-final of the Dragon’s Den style competition recently, 14 young businessmen and women were selected to pitch their ideas to leading professionals.

Among those present were Mayo Wynne Baxter, Juice FM, The Argus and Harvey Fowler Accountancy.

Six finalists were chosen, among them Ricardo Mwe-Di-Mailila, who was pitching his business Treble & Base, an online musical platform for start-up artists.

Former City College Business student William Sudan was also chosen after pitching White Eyebrow – a healthy antioxidant-packed tea in a bottle.

Ricardo, William and the other four young finalists have been offered support donated by local businesses including mentoring, accountancy, legal advice, marketing, branding, printing, a laptop and IT support.

They were also offered further mentoring before the final at City College today (Tuesday 18 March).

The winner will be announced at a showcase event on Tuesday 22 April at Brighton Racecourse.

More information on the initiative can be found at www.youngstart-uptalent.co.uk.

Last week City College’s apprenticeships service, City Apprenticeships, held an event aimed at employers who were considering taking on an apprentice but had doubts.

Common concerns include the time needed to find the right recruit and payroll and HR responsibilities.

The Right Match Apprenticeship Event, at the American Express Community Stadium last Thursday (13 March), set out the easy and cost-effective solutions available.