News: Sam shines as Rotherham Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2014

Sam Goddard of Response Vehicle Lighting has been named as Rotherham Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2014.

The awards, now in their ninth year, cover all sectors and look to recognise the achievements of business owners under the age of 30. Part of the Rotherham Youth Enterprise (RYE) project, which provides help and support to young business owners, the awards take place annually in partnership with UK Steel Enterprise, a subsidiary of Tata Steel that has set aside finance from its Kickstart Fund to target young entrepreneurs in Rotherham.

With twelve high-calibre finalists, judges were impressed with the vision, commitment and personal courage shown by all of the entrants. The winners were announced at the Local Employment Advisory Forum taking place at Magna.

Taking the top prize was Sam Goddard, whose company, Response Vehicle Lighting, first impressed the judges to win the Best Established Business category sponsored by The Source.

Sam developed his skills throughout his childhood until he could confidently get broken lights to work again. He found that there was a market on the internet for the products and maintenance services that he could offer to operators of recovery vehicles, highway maintenance firms and haulage companies.

After finishing his GCSEs, Sam decided to turn his hobby into a profession and visited business coaches at Rotherham Youth Enterprise (RYE) for some valuable advice and to discuss the way forward. Having steadily grown his sales through eBay and his own website over the past four years, the firm now supplies a wide range of vehicle lighting products to domestic and business customers and Sam has seen a huge increase in sales and growth over the last 12 months after securing accounts with two leading UK brands.

Having won the Most Innovative Business award last year, Sam this year received a special trophy and a cheque for £1,000 for winning overall.

Other worthy category winners included Adil Hussain, who won the Best New Start-up sponsored by Parkgate Shopping for his Adspec Ltd business that markets its own range of consumer electronic products and specialises in Android tablet computers.

In the Most Innovative Business category, sponsored by AESSEAL, digital marketing specialist Rebecca Coupe and Infinity Digital was recognised for delivering a marketing service that brings together social media, content marketing, public relations and search engine optimisation to deliver tangible results.

RCAT sponsored the Business Most Determined to Succeed category which was won by Charlotte Scothern from Patchwork Pig, the colourful gift shop on Rotherham's High Street. The award recognised Charlotte's involvement in initiatives to work with other town centre businesses, the relaunch of Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Rotherham, and in local schools.

Presenting the awards, Jackie Frost, manager of Rotherham Youth Enterprise, said: "Despite challenging times, Rotherham continues to be amongst the leaders in encouraging and stimulating enterprise amongst young people."

After thanking organisers, judges and sponsors, Jackie thanked the young entrepreneurs for having the courage to start their own business and to enter the competition. "Judging by the standards we have seen here today, the future of the Rotherham economy is in good hands."

Response Vehicle Lighting website
Rotherham Youth Enterprise website

Images: Tom Austen

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News: Rotherham Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 announced

Gavin Edley, managing director of health specialist, Vitalife Ltd has been named Rotherham's Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013.

The Awards, now in their eighth year, look to recognise the achievements of business owners under the age of 30 and for the last two years have been organised by Rotherham Youth Enterprise.

Based at RiDO's Fusion @ Magna business centre at Templeborough, the award-winning enterprise started life in 2010 in the niche industry of specialist teas. Constant product research and development since then has seen the company’s range grow to 15 lines of tea, two lines of organic coconut oil, over 30 lines of vitamins and minerals and more than 1,300 lines of third-party branded products.

Selling online through a growing network of distributors and high street retailers such as Holland and Barrett, Gavin went on to open his first retail outlet in Sheffield earlier this year and is planning to open one in Rotherham early in 2014.

Speaking after the awards ceremony at New York Stadium, Gavin said: "Being an entrepreneur and business owner can be a lonely place at times so it's great to get recognition for all the hard work and effort we put in. The financial reward is also very welcome as it will go toward our new warehousing project which will make product selection easier for the despatch team, which in turn will mean an improvement in service for our customers."

The Young Entrepreneur of 2013 received a special trophy, a cheque for £1000 and a year's membership of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber.

Gavin also collected the Best Established Business award, which was sponsored by The Source Skills Academy. Other category winners, presented with cheques for £500 by respective sponsors, were Charlotte Scothern, owner of Patchwork Pig, named as Best Start-up Business, sponsored by Parkgate Shopping.

Sam Goddard from Response Vehicle Lighting won the Most Innovative Business award which was sponsored by AESSEAL Charitable Trust Discretionary Fund.

Winner of the Business Most Determined to Succeed was Dawn Brown from FreshnChic Boutique, who collected her award from sponsor Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.

Paul Tomes of Expo People was presented with a certificate and a prize of £250 for Best Business with Growth Potential, which was sponsored by Rotherham Youth Enterprise.

Jackie Frost, manager of Rotherham Youth Enterprise, said: "Our judges were impressed with the vision, commitment and personal courage shown by all of the entrants to these awards. All of those qualities are required to successfully start up and run businesses in the present economy, and once again we have had a very high calibre of entries which has made the judges' task extremely difficult."

Rotherham Youth Enterprise provides self-employment support and advice for young adults in the area. Office and workshop provision is also available across the borough.

Principle sponsor, UK Steel Enterprise has set aside finance from its Kickstart Fund to target young entrepreneurs in Rotherham.

Allan Wood, regional executive at UK Steel Enterprise, said: "Despite challenging times Rotherham continues to support its young entrepreneurs by encouraging and stimulating enterprise amongst young people. We have some great examples with our award winners this year and we look forward to seeing them all prosper in future.

"Our congratulations go to all of the category winners but there can only be one overall winner and Gavin has shown excellent business vision and determination to be named this year's Young Entrepreneur."

Rotherham Youth Enterprise website
UK Steel Enterprise website

Images: RiDO

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News: Rotherham Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013

The shortlist has been confirmed for the Rotherham Young Entrepreneurs' Awards 2013 following the final judging phase this week.

The Awards, now in their eighth year, look to recognise the achievements of business owners under the age of 30 and for the last two years have been organised by Rotherham Youth Enterprise.

The shortlisted nominees are: Dawn Brown from Fresh n Chic Boutique, Gavin Edley from Vitalife, Sam Goddard from Response Vehicle Lighting, Charlotte Scothern from Patchwork Pig and Paul Tomes from The Expo People.

A panel of experts and sponsors interviewed the shortlist who will now have to wait till Friday November 22 to find out who has won. The winners will be announced at the Local Employment Advisory Forum skills day, which is being held at the New York Stadium in Rotherham.

There are four category awards to be won with a prize of £500 each and an overall winner collecting £1,000. The prizes are: Young Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by UK Steel Enterprise; Best New Start Up, sponsored by Parkgate Shopping; Most Determined to Succeed, sponsored by Rotherham College of Art and Technology; Best Established Business, sponsored by The Source and Most Innovative Business, sponsored by AESSEAL.

Allan Wood, regional executive for UK Steel Enterprise and sponsor of the overall prize was impressed with the determination of all five finalists. He said: "It is really pleasing to see so many promising and aspiring young people running their own businesses in Rotherham. They are all facing the future with confidence and we are delighted to be able to support them all."

Jackie Frost, manager of Rotherham Youth Enterprise added: "Each one of the finalists deserves huge credit not just for getting this far but for the attitude they all have in wanting to be successful business owners. It’s going to be very exciting for everyone involved when the winners are announced in November."

Rotherham Youth Enterprise provides self-employment support and advice for young adults in the area. Office and workshop provision is also available across the borough.

UK Steel Enterprise has set aside finance from its Kickstart Fund to target young entrepreneurs in Rotherham.

Rotherham Youth Enterprise website
UK Steel Enterprise website

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News: Response Vehicle Lighting set to shine

A young Rotherham entrepreneur has turned his childhood hobby into a flourishing business thanks to his fascination with flashing lights.

With help from Rotherham Youth Enterprise (RYE), Sam Goddard launched his own company, Response Vehicle Lighting, just 12 months ago and it's going from strength to strength.

Sam developed the skills throughout his childhood until he could confidently get broken lights to work again. He found that there was a market on the internet for the products and maintenance services that he could offer.

After finishing his GCSEs, Sam decided to turn his hobby into a profession and visited business coaches at Rotherham Youth Enterprise (RYE) for some valuable advice and to discuss the way forward.

Sam said: "I met with Darren McDool who supported me with my business plan and found me local premises to work from. The team at RYE have helped me turn my dream into reality and have assisted in the set up of Response Vehicle Lighting which over the last 12 months has been an exciting and successful adventure."

In April last year, Sam registered as a sole trader and has since built up a range of new and refurbished vehicle lights. He has since supplied lights for highway maintenance, recovery, mountain rescue vehicles and private ambulances.

Jackie Frost from RYE said: "Sam came to us needing a little pushing in the right direction. He was one of our youngest ever budding entrepreneurs and he has made a great success of his company. I think he surprised himself at just how capable he is with meeting demand and deadlines- not bad for a young lad who liked to play with lights!"

Response Vehicle Lighting Facebook page

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