In our current edition: Young'Uns 2013
Welcome to our annual Young ‘Uns feature where we celebrate the endeavours and achievements of the county’s brightest young business talent.
Some are owners and employers, others play key roles within their organisations and all are making significant contributions to the present and future successes of our county economy.Lancashire Business View is proud to be partnered once again by UCLan on Young ‘Uns.
We too have long championed the next generation of leaders and wealth generators, which is one reason why we took a lead role in securing Fuse Fund.Fuse Fund, backed by the Regional Growth Fund, offers non-repayable grants of up to £50,000 to young Lancashire businesses and, with our partner Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, we aim to help create hundreds of new jobs.
Businesses trading under three years which are seeking capital investment to grow and employ are eligible.If it’s not your business, perhaps it’s one you know of. Point them in our direction and help us create the next wave of Young ‘Uns!
[quote-block][quote-content]Lancashire has a great entrepreneurial spirit and the talent we have in the region is second to none. The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has fully supported and worked hard for many years to harness that spirit and to ensure, where possible, it stays within Lancashire. If not, we work just as hard to let the world know it came from Lancashire![/quote-content]
[quote-author]Dharma Kovvuri, Dean, Lancashire Business School, UCLan[/quote-author][/quote-block]
Here, we showcase some of the Young'Uns profiled in our magazine's pages, as well as a selection of other submissions we received that didn't quite make it onto our pages.
Mark Stokes, 34, owner, Red Plane
Having finished university, Mark took the risky step of co-founding a web development company working primarily on Microsoft UK intranet sites. After an amazing four and a half years at that company the business lost its major client and the business was closed down.Mark's working life since then has been spent as a consultant working with leading national brands, honing my ability to design and implement business productivity solutions and intranets based on Microsoft's SharePoint and Cloud platforms. I'm now reigniting my business career, launching Red Plane, an IT consultancy that will provide infrastructure that makes sense, and service and software that will drive up productivity, whilst driving down long term IT costs.
Johnathan Pickles, 26, surveyor, Petty's
Having joined Petty’s in 2005, Jonathan is a key member of Petty’s commercial agency, having dealt with a wide spectrum of property ranging from industrial sites, development land, offices and prime retail; resulting in a vast knowledge of the commercial property industry gained over the course of his career.Despite facing a difficult market in recent years, as an agency Petty’s are consistently pushing forward, building relationships with clients and agreeing deals. This has resulted in numerous successes, including the letting of an 8,375 sq. ft premier detached office premises to lighting company AC/DC, a deal completed by Jonathan personally.
Jo Fulthorpe, 31, business development manager, Hyndburn Enterprise Trust
Jo returned to the Hyndburn Enterprise Trust after a successful stint in banking which included winning Regional Sales Manager of the Year for her division. She was integral in winning the contract to pilot Start Up Loans for the Over 30s, something only Hyndburn Enterprise Trust is able to do in the region.
Matt Jagger, 30, owner, Jagger Talent
Matt has ten years’ experience in commercial recruitment, including working with international consultancy Adecco. He went solo in 2010, using savings and has since been nominated twice at the Red Rose Awards, for Start Up of the Year in 2012 and Small Business in 2013. “It was a gamble using Mrs J’s wedding fund, but well worth it.”