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Business News Wales
12 hours ago
- Business
- Business News Wales
ThinkEDI Named Finalist in the 2025 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards
ThinkEDI has been named a Welsh finalist in the 2025 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards, shortlisted in the AI Entrepreneur of the Year category. Known as 'The Grammys of Entrepreneurship', the awards celebrate the most exceptional and inspiring business stories across the UK. This year's shortlist includes over 800 entrepreneurs from every nation and region of the UK, all recognised for their innovation, impact and resilience. Past winners include the founders of BrewDog, Grenade, ClearScore, Zilch, and Unbiased, many of whom were recognised early in their entrepreneurial journey by the awards. This year's finalists: Employ over 25,000 people across the UK Expect to create more than 9,000 new jobs over the next year Generate a combined turnover of £2.25 billion Represent an average business age of six years Sophie-Mason, co-founder of ThinkEDI, said: 'We're absolutely thrilled to be named a finalist. It's an incredible honour to be recognised alongside some of the UK's most exciting and ambitious businesses. This recognition is a huge testament to the hard work of our team and our mission to making inclusion measurable and actionable – ringing the inclusion revolution with AI.' The Great British Entrepreneur Awards are proudly supported by Allica Bank, a champion of established SMEs across the UK. Conrad Ford, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Allica, said: 'At Allica, we're consistently inspired by the energy and strength of UK SMEs. This year's finalists – from early-stage start-ups to established and family businesses – represent a vital force in the British economy, driving innovation, creating jobs, and making a real difference in their communities. We're proud to support the Great British Entrepreneur Awards for the third year in a row, recognising these outstanding business leaders who are not only demonstrating resilience in a challenging business environment but are paving the way for future entrepreneurs to follow.' Frankie James, founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, added: 'We're so proud to reveal this year's shortlist, a truly remarkable group of founders who are changing lives and transforming industries. The quality of entries gets stronger every year, and it's clear that the entrepreneurial spirit in the UK is more alive than ever. Many of our finalists go on to become household names, and we can't wait to watch what this year's cohort achieves next.' Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Monday, November 17th 2025, held at London's Grosvenor House.
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Julie Begbie, founder of the Happy Business Company named finalist in the 2025 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards
Julie Begbie from Penicuik, Midlothian, founder of the Happy Business Company has been named a finalist in the 2025 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards, shortlisted in the highly competitive AI Entrepreneur of the Year category. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Known as 'The Grammys of Entrepreneurship', the awards celebrate the most exceptional and inspiring business stories across the UK. This year's shortlist includes over 800 entrepreneurs from every nation and region of the UK, all recognised for their innovation, impact and resilience. Past winners include the founders of BrewDog, Grenade, ClearScore, Zilch, and Unbiased, many of whom were recognised early in their entrepreneurial journey by the awards. This year's finalists: Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Julie Begbie named finalist in the AI Entrepreneur category in the 2025 Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards Employ over 25,000 people across the UK across the UK Expect to create more than 9,000 new jobs over the next year over the next year Generate a combined turnover of £2.25 billion Represent an average business age of six years Julie Begbie founder of The Happy Business Company said:'I'm beyond thrilled to be named a finalist for AI Entrepreneur of the Year. Being recognised alongside some of the UK's boldest and most brilliant businesses is an honour I don't take lightly. This moment is more than just a milestone — it's a loud-and-clear nod to my mission of making AI less intimidating, more accessible, and actually fun for small business owners. Because tech should empower, not overwhelm.' The Great British Entrepreneur Awards are proudly supported by Allica Bank, a champion of established SMEs across the UK. Conrad Ford, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Allica said: "At Allica, we're consistently inspired by the energy and strength of UK SMEs. This year's finalists – from early-stage start-ups to established and family businesses – represent a vital force in the British economy, driving innovation, creating jobs, and making a real difference in their communities. We're proud to support the Great British Entrepreneur Awards for the third year in a row, recognising these outstanding business leaders who are not only demonstrating resilience in a challenging business environment but are paving the way for future entrepreneurs to follow." Frankie James, founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, added: 'We're so proud to reveal this year's shortlist, a truly remarkable group of founders who are changing lives and transforming industries. The quality of entries gets stronger every year, and it's clear that the entrepreneurial spirit in the UK is more alive than ever. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Many of our finalists go on to become household names, and we can't wait to watch what this year's cohort achieves next.' Winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony on Monday, November 17, held at London's Grosvenor House, where over 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders will come together to celebrate entrepreneurial success. It is with thanks to national and regional sponsors Allica Bank, ADHD 360, Airwallex, Caudwell Children, Channel Funnels, de Novo Solutions, EliteBusinessLive, FundOnion, Great Influence, Join Talent, Mettryx, Quidos, Randal Charitable Foundation, ScoreApp, UBS Wealth Management and Vestd that the Great British Entrepreneur Awards has been able to celebrate the very best of Great British entrepreneurs for 13 years.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Allica selects Lendscape as core platform for asset finance business
UK-based challenger bank Allica has selected Lendscape's commercial lending technology platform to support its asset finance operations. The decision follows a successful trial in a sandbox environment and forms part of Allica's strategy to scale its offering for established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and fintech clients. According to Allica's deputy CEO Niv Subramanian, the bank's investment in digital infrastructure is aimed at delivering business banking that is 'flexible' and 'fits seamlessly' into its wider ecosystem. 'Our growth shows just how strong the demand is for a better kind of business banking,' he said. The Lendscape platform, described as 'API-first', will enable Allica to integrate with other systems, respond rapidly to market changes and deliver product innovation at speed. Conrad Ford, Allica's Chief Product and Strategy Officer, said the lender was impressed by Lendscape's transparency during early discussions and the platform's ability to meet Allica's growth and integration requirements. 'We've seen the strength of their technological foundations and the alignment in our ambitions,' he said. Lendscape's chief product officer, Steve Taplin, said the firm had made a long-term investment in asset finance technology and highlighted the benefits of early sandbox access during the trial period. 'We share Allica's commitment to improving SME finance,' he said. Sunny Bhachu, regional commercial director at Lendscape, described the partnership as a 'perfect fit', adding that Lendscape was well-positioned to support Allica's growth strategy. "Allica selects Lendscape as core platform for asset finance business" was originally created and published by Leasing Life, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
