A jewellery boutique and a catering business are just two of the five West Midlands companies named in the Lloyds Bank Enterprise Awards shortlist, as the competition hots up to find the best young entrepreneurs amongst Britain's university student and graduates.
As part of the bank's commitment to nurture the top business talent emerging from Britain's universities, there are three categories open to entrepreneurs currently studying or who graduated within the past five years and have been trading for more than one year.
The Best Start-up prize will be awarded to a business which has been running for less than two years and has the potential to grow into a profitable business.
The Best Digital category will recognise those businesses that have demonstrated the value of digital to the business' bottom line and the customer experience.
The Best Enterprise award will go to the business which has been running for over two years and demonstrates innovation, as well as showing real potential to grow over the next five years to become a recognised business.
Midlands nominees include Black White Boutique, an online jewellery retailer which sources its products from around the world to provide customers with an affordable range of jewellery that isn't available on the high street.
Also Clever Tykes, which is based in Birmingham, and uses storybooks to bring enterprise education into the classroom and change how young people in Britain are inspired.
Burrito Kitchen is a Mexican food business that started with a catering trailer on the University of Birmingham campus. It was approached by the Westfield group to formalise the concept and Burrito Kitchen officially launched in the food court at Merry Hill in 2013.
Cattleya CIC is a student run business at King Charles 1 School in Kidderminster that serves a range of bespoke non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails using ethically sourced fruits from Colombia, supporting the growth and development of the exotic fruit trade and providing a more stable income for farmers and their families.
Nationwide Enterprise Academy CIC was established to support blind and visually impaired people and enable them to be more independent, by developing wearable computer vision technology for Google Glass.
The initial heats will take place throughout September, with the central region heat taking place at Nottingham Trent University on September 23.
Mark Cadwallader, area director in the West Midlands, SME Banking, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: "Three years into the competition, we're still hugely impressed with the calibre of young businesses entering. The central shortlist just goes to show that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well amongst our university students and graduates."
