Simone Thomas, founder of Simone Thomas hair loss clinic and hairdressers in Bournemouth crowned Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year 2015
London, 26th November 2015 – Hailed as the benchmark for entrepreneurial success in the UK, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, in association with NatWest, last week crowned 19 inspiring business innovators. The prestigious title Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year 2015’ was awarded to Simone Thomas, founder of Simone Thomas hair loss clinic, a Prestigious Hair Salon and Non Surgical Hair Loss Clinic in Bournemouth.
In its third year, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, held at the Ballroom South Bank in London, celebrated another successful year of entrepreneurship in this country. The event was hosted by Oli Barrett and Caprice Bourret – both entrepreneurs themselves. A record number of applications were received this year across the 18 other categories, including ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’, ‘Creative Entrepreneur of the Year’, ‘E2E Scale Up Entrepreneur of the Year’ and ‘Social Enterprise Entrepreneur of the Year’.
On winning, Simone Thomas said: ‘‘I am so pleased to have won this amazing award. It feels so rewarding to be recognised for all the hard work that’s been put into turning my business into the success it is today. To be able to help clients on a regional, national and international basis is what drives me. We will continue to grow and provide the best service experience to our customers.’’
Simone has suffered twice from hair loss, due to cervical cancer and alopecia. She became acutely aware of the strains hair loss has on a person and the huge gap there was in the market for hair loss solutions. Simone’s experience inspired her to action and she built up a unique business, ‘Simone Thomas’ based in Bournemouth, to help others with similar conditions. Simone’s devoted salon is dedicated to finding hair loss replacement solutions and has aided clients across the globe. In just three years, Simone has become known as one of the UK’s leading experts in hair loss. She now offers an extensive range of exclusive hair treatments for those suffering from hair loss caused by cancer treatments, male and female pattern baldness, Telogen Effluvium and Alopecia.
One of Britain’s most recognised and successful entrepreneurs, Lord Sugar, had this to say about entrepreneurship: “Britain is known to have generated a whole host of entrepreneurs. We must continue and be proud to celebrate entrepreneurship in Britain. It generates new ideas and concepts and in turn it generates employment and prosperity for our country.”
Nick James, founder of Fresh Business Thinking and co-founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, commented: “As a society we benefit massively from entrepreneurs; they create wealth, employment, they invest in community projects and many choose to ‘pay it forward’ by investing in other entrepreneurs whether with money, time or both. Entrepreneurs might be the fire-starters but I think that the most important characteristic of an entrepreneur is not just the wherewithal and passion to start the fire – but the energy to keep it burning brightly.”
Full List of Winners
Great British Entrepreneur of the Year
Ed Bussey, Quill
Export/International Trade
Gold: Joan Woulf & Katie Smith, Cooking Marvellous
Silver: Phil Whitehurst, Active Research
Bronze: Sean Ramdsen, Ramdsen International
Espark Special Merit: Craig Benton, The London Deli Company
Small Business
Gold: Simone Thomas, Simone Thomas hair loss clinic and hairdressers in Bournemouth and Wokingham
Silver: Alex & Kitty Shepherd, Startisans
Bronze: Carl Churchill, NetPay Merchant Services
Espark Special Merit: Brett Ekker, LOVESPACE
Eco
Gold: Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen
Silver: Grace Quantack, Healing Boxes CIC
Bronze: Erik Fairbairn, POD Point
Espark Special Merit: Sam Clarke, Gnewt Cargo
Creative
Gold: Alexander Solomou, 65twenty
Silver: Stephanie Asplin, The Crewing Company
Bronze: Ed Bussey, Quill
Espark Special Merit: Guy Robinson, Coalition Talent
Social Enterprise (UK)
Gold: Louisa Symington-Mills, Cityparents Ltd
Silver: Mike Britton, Goodwill Solutions CIC
Bronze: Nick Entwistle, One Minute Briefs
Espark Special Merit: Grace Quantock, Healing Boxes CIC
Social Enterprise (International)
Gold: Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen
Silver: Aaron Jones, Fikay Fashion
Bronze: Josh Turner, St4nd Ltd
Espark Special Merit: Mark Beeham, Chatter Bags
Fashion
Gold: Adetola Kunle-Hassan, Nubian Skin
Silver: Aaron Jones, Fikay Fashion
Bronze: Tom Joule, Joules
Espark Special Merit: Rosie Davies, The London Fashion Agency
Retail
Gold: Dom & Ali Beaven, Prezola
Silver: Nish & Sach Kukadia, SecretSales.com
Bronze: Alex & Kitty Shepherd, Startisans
Espark Special Merit: Carol Smillie, Diary Dolls
Micro Business
Gold: Darren Thomas, Pedalcover Insurance
Silver: Caroline Sparks, Turtle Tots Ltd
Bronze: Alana Lawrie-Fussey, Text You Home
Espark Special Merit: Nick Entwistle, One Minute Briefs
Manufacturing
Gold: Steve Lindsey, Lontra
Silver: Errin Todd, Lobster Pod
Bronze: Richard Corbett, Eyetease
Espark Special Merit: Jackie Dalziel, Darcy’s
Start-up
Gold: Nicholas Walters, Hopster
Silver: Errin Todd, Lobster Pod
Bronze: Naimish Gohil, Show My Homework
Espark Special Merit: Bianca Miller, The Be Group
Young (25 & under)
Gold: George Burgess, Gojimo
Silver: Alexander Solomou, 65twenty
Bronze: Georgina Bullen, Team Insight Ltd
Espark Special Merit: Phoebe Gormley, Gormley & Gamble
Young (26-30)
Gold: Christian Lane, Smarter
Silver: Marc Wileman, Sublime Science
Bronze: Susan Ma, Tropic Skincare
Espark Special Merit: Deepak Tailor, Latest Free Stuff
E2E Scale-up
Gold: Alexander Solomou, 65twenty
Silver: Bjorn Reynolds, SafeGuard World International
Bronze: Joanne Smith, The Consulting Consortium
Espark Special Merit: Anil Stocker, Market Invoice
Food & Drink
Gold: Alex and Kitty Shepherd, Startisans
Silver: Kim Antoniou, Kafoodle
Bronze: Melanie Goldsmith, Smith & Sinclair
Espark Special Merit: Jonathan Lodge, City Farm Systems
Service Industries
Gold: Marc Wileman, Sublime Science
Silver: Michael Asher, Better2Know
Bronze: Avin Rabheru, Housekeep
Espark Special Merit: Alison Edgar, Sales Coaching Solutions
Digital
Gold: Alexander Solomou, 65twenty
Silver: Reg Rix, Carfinance247
Bronze: Nigel Eccles, FanDuel
Espark Special Merit: Anthony Eskinazi, Just Park
Entreprenuer’s Champion of the Year
Gold: Ian Merricks, The Accelerator Network
Silver: Jeff Leask, Young Enterprise Scotland
Bronze: Matt Smith, Centre for Entrepenuers
Espark Special Merit: Neeta Patel, New Entrepreneurs Foundation
Great British Entrepeneur Awards
Web: https://greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com/
Photos are available here:
https://www.splento.com/photos/nIIOvu
