Information Technologists’ Company: ITC Entrepreneurs’ Forum Announces Winner’s Shortlist for Enterprise Awards 2011

The shortlist for the first ever ITC Entrepreneur’s Forum, ‘Enterprise Awards’ has been unveiled ahead of the inaugural event, which will be held at Stationers Hall in London on Thursday 5 May.

The ITC Entrepreneurs’ Forum, part of the Information Technologists' Company, the 100th Livery Company of the City of London, is celebrating the success of its Mentoring Programmeby holding its premier Enterprise Awards 2011 ceremony to recognise some of the most outstanding achievements of the entrepreneurs being mentored.

A sell-out is expected with 140 attendees at the ceremony, which is predicted to become the premier entrepreneur event in the UK’s technology industry calendar. The awards will be presented by Dr Mike Lynch, founder, chairman and CEO of Autonomy. He, with Brent Hoberman, co-founder and chairman of lastminute.com; founder and CEO of Kashflow Software, Duane Jackson and IDBS founder and CEO, Neil Kipling will make up a Panel on the night, chaired by the leading ICT analyst and commentator, Richard Holway, discussing the ‘Essence of Enterprise’.

The judging panel, comprising of Geoff Morris, chairman of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum; Simon Williams, leader of the Mentoring Programme, Ed Lascelles of Albion Ventures and John O’Connell of ITC and host of the Awards Dinner, had a tough job deciding the shortlist as the quality of the entrepreneurs far exceeded expectations.

John O’Connell, himself a renowned technology entrepreneur and founder of Staffware which was sold for $250 million in 2004 commented “Our goal is to nurture and inspire enterprise in the field of technology here in the UK. By recognising some of the best-of-breed entrepreneurs from our current portfolio of 60+ companies, we hope to encourage them and their peer group to become global champions in due course.”

The prestigious awards are sponsored by Nic Birtles, CEO of Konetic; Roger Graham, former ITC master; John O’Connell and Ken Olisa, chairman of Restoration Partners and master of ITC. There are three main categories for entrepreneurs including ‘Young Entrepreneur - 30 or under’, ‘Emerging Entrepreneur’ and the ‘Enterprise Award’. The judges’ criteria cover key areas which recognise both the entrepreneurs’ personal and company achievements such as growth, profile and innovation. Eight entrepreneurs have been shortlisted in total.

Shortlisted for one of the major accolades, ‘Young Entrepreneur’, is Matt Brooke-Smith who founded Future Workshops; Rajeeb Dey of Enternships.com and David Excell who founded Featurespace. 

Shortlisted for ‘Emerging Entrepreneur’ are Matt Brooke-Smith again; Stuart Clark who founded Impendium; David Excell again of Featurespace and Keith Brown, managing director of paythru.

The three entrepreneurs shortlisted for ‘Enterprise Award’ are Richard Anson of Reevoo; Peter Baumann of Active Navigation and Adam Kingdon of i2oWater.

In addition there will be recognition of the ‘Mentor of the Year’ from within the ranks of the ITC Mentors themselves.

All winners will all be awarded with certificates to commemorate their achievements as well as a top of the range iPad2 and a three year membership to the Information Technologists' Company, for the winning entrepreneurs.

A limited number of tickets are still available for what is expected to be a sell-out event. Tickets are £125 each, £500 for a table of five or £950 for a table for 10, all plus VAT.

The Enterprise Awards 2011 marks the success of the ITC Entrepreneurs’ Forum mentoring programme. Launched in October 2008, the Entrepreneurs’ Forum has attracted 61 companies to its programme, turning over £80 million and employing 780 staff, having more than doubled the number of companies being mentored and tripled the annual revenue in the last 12 months, well on the way to the Olympic goals of 100 companies employing 1,000 staff in 2012.

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Notes to Editors:

About ITC Entrepreneurs’ Forum
The ITC Entrepreneurs’ Forum is dedicated to helping business founders who need to accelerate their company’s development from early stage revenue to sustainable growth. The Forum consists of a pro-bono team of successful business mentors to help develop companies whose proposition has significant information and communications technology content.

The Forum conducts 1-2-1 mentoring with entrepreneurs helping them achieve their business goals. The Forum is also focussed on an entrepreneurial business that is likely to require between £250,000 and £1,000,000 in first round finance. This level of finance is the most difficult entrepreneurial step in the current economic environment. "The achievements of an organisation are the results of the combined effort of each individual." Vince Lombardi, Legendary US football coach

For further information about the ITC Entrepreneurs’ Forum, please visit www.itcmentoring.com 

About Information Technologists’ Company
The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, formerly WCIT, is the 100th livery company of the City of London, bringing together the centuries-old livery tradition and information technology, a key industry of the new millennium. Since 1992, when the Company was awarded livery status by the Court of Aldermen of the City of London, it has been actively demonstrating the relevance of the livery tradition to modern day society. The Company uses the time, expertise and resources of its members to promote the information technology profession and undertake a range of charitable and educational activities. The Company currently has more than 720 members, all of whom are senior practitioners in the IT profession.

For further information about the Information Technologists’ Company, please visitwww.wcit.org.uk

Press Contact
Caroline Shawley
The Whiteoaks Consultancy
+44 (0)1252 727313
carolines@whiteoaks.co.uk

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