An active participant in local affairs, Bev is an Enterprise Fellow at the University of East Anglia, a member of the European Centre for Women in Technology and Industry Council, and a Women’s Enterprise ambassador. In 2010 she was honoured with the Queens Award for Enterprise Promotion.

“This is an exciting time to be joining East of England Tourism” Bev commented. “Tourism in this area has enjoyed one of the fastest growing visitor economies in England, but the competitive nature of today’s market means we have to innovate and deliver even better results to maintain our leading position. I look forward to contributing to that goal.”

Keith Brown, Chief Executive of East of England Tourism welcomes her appointment and said  “Bev’s excellent track record of innovation and business growth ideally suits our own needs as an organisation. With the new focus on localism, her experience of building successful partnerships with both the public and private sectors will be a great asset for our organisation.”

East of England Tourism was launched in 2007, for the purpose of promoting the region’s tourism industry. The Board’s members include hundreds of businesses from across the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors and many of the local authorities in the region.

YTKO’s CEO, Bev Hurley, commented: “We’re delighted to be involved in the Hub awards this year, as building relationships in a relaxed and informal networking environment is key for new entrepreneurs.  Businesses face many similar challenges, and knowing you’re not facing them alone can really help. Networks like the Hub provide a friendly environment for new businesses to raise awareness and build partnerships and collaborations with other enterprising and like-minded people.”

The awards will recognise innovation and employment, but also the contribution made to The Hub. Categories include Employee of the Year, Best Business Start-up, Entrepreneur of the Year, Green Business of the Year, and Hub Contributor of the Year.

This year’s winners will be announced at an informal awards evening on Thursday 25th November at the Atlantic Hotel in Newquay – 2010’s last official Hub gathering for members and stakeholders.

The hub invites applications and nominations from across the county, to promote recognition of the businesses and employees that are shaping enterprise in Cornwall.

To find out more, visit: www.cornwallhub.org/awards.php

Each Fellow was assigned a senior business mentor with relevant industrial experience, which enabled them to be linked in to industry contacts and benefit from the mentor’s sector knowledge. Extensive training was provided in a series of workshops on topics such as leadership, financial management and intellectual property.

During the course of the Fellowship, the YEF team have also provided a range of events for the participants, including a poster networking event and an investor awareness event, attended by representatives from financial schemes and investor organisations from the region.

Highlight results from the scheme include:
- A return on investment to the participating universities of £4.1M in levered funding.
- Twenty-two Fellows achieved further grant funding, including nine awards from the Yorkshire Proof of Commercial Concept Fund.
- Eight new businesses already established or expanded by Fellows, including Chromocyte Ltd and spin-out companies, Avoco Medical Ltd (University of Hull) and Aptuscan Ltd (University of Leeds).
- ShieldAll™, a CT foetal shield developed by Fellow Gareth Iball, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, with the backing of Medipex Ltd, was placed on the market earlier this year.
- Enterprise Fellow, Alex Oboh, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, was an award winner at the Medipex 2010 NHS Innovation Awards for his novel obstetric forceps.
- Sort:Ed an interactive board game for training student nurses, developed by Karen Currell of the University of Huddersfield, is due to be launched in June.
- RescuPod™, a medical emergencies kit for dentists, developed by Kate Taylor of the University of Leeds was launched in May.

The final event at Harewood is intended to showcase the success of the programme to local businesses and potential investors and provide a networking opportunity for those involved in the programme.

YEF Director, Dr Suzanne Emmett, commented: “The outputs from the YEF scheme demonstrate the immense achievements made by our Enterprise Fellows in terms of their scientific research and in the business learning from the programme. Such programmes represent a fantastic opportunity for individuals, as well as for the economy of the local region.”

The scheme followed on from an equally successful pilot programme, the Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship, and programme managers YTKO are hopeful that a new bid for funds to run a similar scheme starting in 2011 will be awarded.

The award acknowledges the outstanding enterprise support work that Bev delivers through programmes such as Norfolk Network, Outset Cornwall and Plymouth, Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowships, and Partner to Succeed, and her inspirational championing of female entrepreneurship through Peterborough Women’s Enterprise Centre and the Enterprising Women Community.

She also devotes substantial time to voluntary activities, including judging awards and business plan competitions, coaching and mentoring graduates and disadvantaged entrepreneurs. Bev is also one of the few female business angels, and serves as non-executive director on a number of private companies as well as in public sector service.

Bev’s passionate leadership of Enterprising Women has seen it grow exponentially since launch – with a current membership of nearly 8000 women and 250 stakeholder organisations. It provides a huge range of services, support for and promotion of its members, and was selected by BIS last year as one of three national best practice examples for supporting entrepreneurship.

Under Bev’s management, YTKO, a leading business consultancy, has seen strong year on year growth, and the creation of new offices in Leeds, Truro, Plymouth and France. The company now employs over 40 people, and is growing at over 60% per annum.

Peter White, Chairman of YTKO, says, “Bev’s drive, passion and commitment to helping others grow their businesses continues to inspire everyone here at YTKO. We are all thrilled that her major, long-term contribution to UK enterprise has been acknowledged in such a prestigious manner.

Bev Hurley, YTKO’s Chief Executive, says “Our programmes put a lot of emphasis on encouraging entrepreneurs to test the validity of their business concept, and show them how best to do so. This not only helps take some of the risk out of starting up, but also contributes to ensuring that these exciting new ventures become sustainable and thriving businesses for the longer term benefit of the Cornish economy.”

Martin Strutton, Managing Director of Lite Energy, completed the Outset Cornwall programme earlier this month and now successfully runs his energy efficient lighting consultancy. He says, “The Outset Cornwall programme has been excellent. Each workshop or coaching session I have attended has been of real value. I get great peer support and lots of networking opportunities. Now I have the skills and confidence I need to make a real success of my business.

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Office, is delighted to see the programme smash its target. “”This is one of a raft of Convergence investments aimed at supporting people and businesses and strengthening our economy. The 300 people supported by Outset Cornwall since September have been given access to the opportunity to realise their ambitions and start the journey in developing successful businesses.”

Kate McEwen, YTKO’s Director for Outset Cornwall is similarly thrilled with the programme’s achievements. “Our phone hasn’t stopped ringing and our team of enterprise advisors now run the programme in over 15 different towns right across the County. We encourage anyone with a spark of a business idea to call us on 0800 9174 324 and find out what free support we can give them to get their business started.”

Outset Cornwall wish all their entrepreneurs the very best of luck as they venture further into business or self employment, and look forward to continuing to support their developing businesses over the coming months.

www.outsetcornwall.co.uk

Stewart Jackson MP for Peterborough unveiled the plaque to mark the centre’s official opening. He commented:

“I’m delighted to play a part in the launch of the Women’s Enterprise Centre. This region now leads the UK, with the female early-stage entrepreneurial activity over two per cent higher than the rest of the UK. But with women owned businesses still a relatively small proportion of the whole, it is vital that we sustain our commitment to helping women to start to create new businesses, and to help those who want to grow their existing businesses, and create new jobs and value.”

The centre is the second of its kind in the UK. As well as offering advice and training about all aspects setting up a business and accessing finance, 1:1 coaching, mentoring, and access to finance services, the centre includes a Wi-Fi enabled computer and hot-desking area, a training room and mailbox facilities which women can use for business correspondence. A crèche is on site for use by mothers who are taking part in the centre’s wide range of training courses and a café and a wardrobe exchange coming on stream shortly.

Centre manager Georgette Rouncefield is happy that the doors of the Centre are finally open:

“We’ve been working alongside the council all the way, and are delighted that all our hard work has come to fruition. Whilst the Centre has been refurbished, we have already assisted more than 100 businesses and helped nearly 50 women to develop their skills since the beginning of January. 4 new women-owned enterprises have already been set up as a result of our training programmes. We’re really looking forward to helping many more women unlock their potential, and to help make the city centre a dynamic and successful business hub.”

Councillor Marco Cereste, leader of the city council, said:

“Business is the lifeblood of our economy, and we must constantly enhance our ability to start and grow successful and innovative enterprises. Women can make a huge contribution to our future if we give them the right support to develop their talents. Today is all about our tangible commitment to women’s enterprise, by providing a wonderful new centre and a wealth of expertise, services and support coming together in one place. I wish it great success, and look forward to meeting lots of Enterprising Women in the coming years.”

Rachel Bosworth, Deputy Chief Executive of EEDA added:

“In the East of England whilst women make up 50 per cent of the population, women owned businesses still only make up 15 per cent of the business stock and 29 per cent of the self-employed population. With the opening of this centre, I hope that I’ll soon be invited back to hear of its successes and meet some of the new female entrepreneurs who know they can do it for themselves and are benefiting from the centre and Enterprising Women’s support and encouragement!”

The centre is funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Peterborough City Council. It is managed by YTKO and supported by Enterprising Women.

For more information, please call freephone (0800) 028 5751 or go to www.pwec.org.uk

The first information session took place on Friday 19th Feb at Stoke Business Park in Plymouth with an excellent turn out, illustrating that there is a real need for this service in the city. Simon Hall, Programme Director for the ISUS Plymouth service says,

“These are jargon-free, practical courses include a wide range of personal and business skills development to give our entrepreneurs all the essential tools, knowledge and confidence to start a new business.”

Councillor Ted Fry, Cabinet Member for Planning, Strategic Housing and Economic Development at Plymouth City Council is delighted to see this service come to Plymouth.

“This is the first event to take place under this scheme and we look forward to seeing what comes out of it. YTKO has experience of nurturing those with a business idea and encouraging people to realise their ambition.” He continued”, I am also pleased to see the first session in one of our business premises, City Business Park in Stoke which already has a sterling record of getting businesses up and running.”

Nigel Howells, Head of Competitiveness at the South West RDA, said:

“The ISUS project will open up a whole new world of possibility for those groups that have experienced barriers to enterprise. We anticipate that, over the three year programme period, the funding will assist around 800 individuals who are thinking about starting a business as well as help improve the performance of 130 businesses after they’ve started. Indeed, the programme will allow for the creation of new businesses and jobs that would not otherwise come to fruition. We look forward to helping programme managers YTKO build on their already strong working relationships with key partners and existing business support agencies to make a real difference in Plymouth.”

Bev Hurley, YTKO’s Chief Executive says,

“Some people can feel that because they have a family to look after, are disabled, are from a different culture or maybe haven’t had the best start in life that they could never start and run their own business. Well, the YTKO Outset team know differently, and we have already worked with around 200 people in Cornwall to help them turn their dreams into realities. My advice to anyone reading this in Plymouth is that they have nothing to lose by contacting us!”

Whatever your background, why not give one of the YTKO Plymouth team a call on Freephone 0800 028 5699 to find out more, chat with an advisor, or register your place, or take a look at their website www.outsetplymouth.co.uk. You have nothing to lose!

The commercial potential of the product was realised during Clinical Scientist Gareth Iball’s year as a Yorkshire Enterprise Fellow. More than 60 researchers from regional universities and NHS Trusts have benefited from the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) scheme, which provides business training and mentoring to increase commercial expertise within the academic community. The programme, which is funded by Yorkshire Forward and managed by business growth specialists, YTKO, supports projects in the healthcare, bioscience and chemical sectors. Mentoring support for Gareth’s project was provided by Dr Kathy Armour.

“The Fellowship scheme has given me the time, resources and training that I needed to bring ShieldAll™ from a prototype to a commercially available product.” said Gareth. “This could not have happened so quickly or with the backing of such strong scientific data without the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship. The whole experience has been the best of my career thus far!”

YTKO’s Dr Suzanne Emmett, YEF Director, commented: “The commercialisation of ShieldAll™ demonstrates the value of training programmes, such as the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship, working together with organisations such as Medipex Ltd, in helping research innovation to reach the market. Gareth received a YEF award for his dedication at the recent Gala Dinner and we are pleased to see this product on the market.”

Penny Dutton, the CT Superintendent Radiographer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said of the ShieldAll™: “This simple, innovative design, will significantly improve patient comfort during CT scans whilst optimising radiation reduction. For the Radiographers, to no longer need to manoeuvre traditional, heavy, lead coats will be a real plus point.”

Jim Farmery, Assistant Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward, said: “This is just one of the success stories that has come out of the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship and further proves the worth of this scheme.”

Recent press coverage of radiation dose issues related to CT scanning in the USA makes the development of ShieldAll™ very timely. The ShieldAll™ has the potential to save thousands of lives per year by reducing the risk of cancer induction arising from CT scans. From January 2010, ShieldAll™ can be purchased from Rothband Ltd, a leading UK manufacturer of radiation protection products.

About YEF

The Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) is designed to help university researchers create a business based on their research. Building on the highly successful Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship scheme launched in 2004, this new initiative from Yorkshire Forward delivers practical support to commercialise ideas and research findings from the region’s Universities. Since its inception in 2004 BYEF/YEF has been a resounding success – resulting in 12 spin-out companies and over £7 million of leveraged funding for its diverse tech projects. www.yef.org.uk

Contact: suzanne.emmett@ytko.com

The technology employed by the Leeds team is more cost-effective than existing methods and aims to minimise environmental impact in comparison to traditional extraction procedures.

The research is led by Professor Chris Rayner in the School of Chemistry group, and Dr. Richard Blackburn in the University’s Centre for Technical Textiles. Together, their ultimate aim is to spin a new company out of the University to advance this new green technology.

Dr Rose has secured a Technology Strategy Board (TSB) grant for industrial collaboration with North Yorkshire company, Critical Processes Ltd. He has also won separate support from Yorkshire Concept (Proof of Commercial Concept Fund), for which the University provides matched funding. Significant support has also been provided by the University’s Clothworker’s Innovation Fund, which is sponsored by The Clothworkers’ Company.

The project is guided by the University’s Enterprise & Innovation Office and a patent application has been filed to protect the technology.

Paul has also been supported by the Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) programme, a Yorkshire Forward-funded initiative providing business training and mentoring to help researchers from the region’s Universities to commercialise their ideas in the biotech, healthcare and chemistry sectors.

The scheme, managed by business growth specialists YTKO, was launched in 2007, and, to date, has supported more than 60 fellows in the region to develop their business plans, gain commercial expertise and increase their exposure to the investment community. The YEF mentoring support provided to Paul for the project came from Ian Grundy, Senior Vice President – Global Sales and Marketing at TeraView Ltd.

On his experience of the YEF scheme, Paul said:

“The programme has been extremely enjoyable, and has provided me with an excellent level of support, training and mentoring. The path to commercialisation of our products and processes has been accelerated and focussed, and the skills I have developed during my YEF year have significantly helped to attract income, and to plan for the future.”
Brian McCaul, Director of Commercialisation at the University of Leeds commented:

“It’s always exciting to see university technology gaining support from external funding bodies: the validation is important for moving our inventions towards real-world use. YEF, along with Yorkshire Concept, the TSB and the Clothworkers’ Innovation Fund have been essential in moving this forward. It’s a good example of what the University can do with its external partners – and we hope to see many more.”
YTKO’s Dr Suzanne Emmett, YEF Director, added:

“We are delighted with Paul’s achievements in gaining further funding. The YEF scheme is performing extremely well and is expected to exceed the output targets for levered funds.”
Paul will be exhibiting his research at Venturefest Yorkshire 2010.

Professor Diana Anderson, who works in the field of Biomedical Science, explained what winning meant to her:

“When I heard that I had won an award I was truly delighted. The whole experience as a Yorkshire Enterprise Fellow has been very stimulating. All the lecturers on the course are extremely good and everything is very well organised by Dr Suzanne Emmett and her team. The mentoring system is outstanding and has provided the impetus for me to move forward into the business world with appropriate support from my University.”

Fellow winner Dr Helen Philippou, who specialises in Cardiovascular and Diabetes Research, added:

“Would I recommend YEF to my academic colleagues? YES! The YEF scheme has changed my life and my whole approach to the research I now carry out in my lab”

Winner of the Best Personal Mentor award, Damien Bove (IDA Consultants LTD) commented on his rewarding YEF experience:

“The high quality of Fellows on the programme means that you find yourself giving your very best just to keep pace with them. Being exposed to the expertise that lies in the region’s universities gave me supreme confidence in recommending them as service providers to my international clients, one of whom has just placed a £3000 consultancy programme and negotiations are ongoing for a massive £700,000+ programme of work.”

The event’s other prestigious accolades were picked up by Dr Peter Wilson (IP21) who was awarded Best Trainer, and the Enterprise and Commercialisation team at the University of Bradford (headed by Andy Duley) who were recognised as the Best University Support Team.

The awards were presented by Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward. Earlier he had set the scene about the YEF programme:

“YEF is one of the flagship programmes for bioscience and healthcare technologies sectors development. We have invested a little under £3m so far, but the return has been significant, with 30 fellowships created at the pilot stage and 65 in the current programme. All expectations in terms of volume and quality of outputs have been exceeded by a substantial margin and the amount of private sector funding attracted has been more than double the original target.

Focusing resources in this proof of concept activity helps universities concentrate on increasing the throughput of their technology transfer, incentivising them to use the fastest, least resource-intensive route to market.

Fellowships also stimulate, promote and maintain a culture where enterprise and entrepreneurship are valued within a University environment.
All of this directly underpins the Yorkshire Forward objective of helping to create a strong and sustainable healthcare technologies industry within our region. It is a hugely successful programme which we are confident will continue to increase entrepreneurial and commercial activity in Yorkshire’s Universities, ultimately creating new jobs and buying more money into the region – what could be better than that?”

The evening’s excellent keynote speaker was Professor Norman Maitland of University of York and Pro-Cure Therapeutics, and award winner, Dr Helen Philippou, gave an engaging and insightful presentation on her experiences as a YEF fellow.

YEF Programme coordinator, Dr Suzanne Emmett, of enterprise support specialists – YTKO, commented:

“Congratulations to all our Fellows and Award Winners! This event rightly recognises their achievements and highlights their outstanding contribution to this very successful enterprise scheme. YEF is an invaluable programme which gives these talented individuals the platform and tools to commercialise their important research developments and inventions – many of which involve potentially life changing advances in technology and science.”

END

Steeve Lamvohee (University of Hull) receives his Exceptional Dedication and Enthusiasm award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Helen Philippou (University of Leeds) receives her Exceptional Dedication and Enthusiasm award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Diana Anderson (University of Bradford) receives her Exceptional Dedication and Enthusiasm award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Gareth Iball (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust) receives his Exceptional Dedication and Enthusiasm award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Dr Peter Wilson (IP21) receives his Best Trainer award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Damien Bove (IDA Consultants LTD) receives his Best Personal Mentor award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Andy Duley (Head of Enterprise and Commercialisation, University of Bradford) receives the Best University Support Team award from Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.
High resolution JPG available for download here

Simon Hill, Executive Director of Business at Yorkshire Forward.

Professor Anthony Robards, OBE, event host.

Professor Norman Maitland, key note speaker.

Notes to Editors *The Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship (YEF) is designed to help university researchers create a business based on their research. Building on the highly successful Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship scheme launched in 2004, this new initiative from Yorkshire Forward delivers practical support to commercialise ideas and research findings from the region’s Universities.

• Since its inception in 2007 BYEF/YEF has been a resounding success – resulting in 11 spin-out companies and over £5million of leveraged funding for its diverse tech projects.
• For more information, visit www.yef.org.uk/
• Please contact Dr Suzanne Emmett on suzanne@mail.ytko.com for further information about the event.

2009 YEF Award – Categories and Winners

• Dedicated and Enthusiastic fellows: Steeve Lamvohee of University of Hull, Diana Anderson of the University of Bradford, Helen Philippou of the University of Leeds and Gareth Iball of Medipex/Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
• Best trainer : Peter Wilson of IP21
• Best personal mentor: Damien Bove of IDA Consultants
• Best university support team: The University of Bradford (headed by Andy Duley)