Success stories

11th Hour Marketing

Following redundancy, Andrew Randall used his networking skills to build a six-figure turnover marketing business


3net

The professional IT services company that has 40% growth year on year.


82ASK

Sarah McVittie was 25 when she set up her text information service. She tells us how she did it.


Adam Street

James Minter turned an unused London building into an entrepreneurs club with a difference. He tells us how


Addirect

Ben Grant tells us about his revolutionary new advertising tool - the Admirror


Alastair Lukies

The Monitise founder on how he sold his technology to big business.

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Alexandra Kelly

The Powerchex founder on why redundancy can sometimes be reason to break open the champagne


Ambition 24Hours

Overcoming a lack of funding and negative attitudes, Penny Streeter has built up a £60 million business


Ample Bosom

Farmer's wife Sally Robinson braved her family's disapproval to set up successful online bra business Ample Bosom


Andrew Black

The co-founder of Betfair.com talks to Startups.co.uk about the gamble that paid off


Andrew Black

The co-founder of Betfair.com talks to Startups.co.uk about the gamble that paid off


Animation Art Gallery

Russell Singler turned his passion for cartoons into a business that's anything but two-dimensional


Arts and Business Interview

Colin Tweedy, CEO of Arts and Business, talks about the upcoming awards and why small businesses shoud sponsor the arts


AutoeBid

Amin Saleem explains how his online car auction business has steered its way to success


Babylicious

Sally Preston overcame a series of setbacks to launch Babylicious. She tells Startups.co.uk how she did it.


Barjis Chohan

How one rug designer has got success covered


Bean-there.com

How Aisling Collins' internet café had the grounds for a great business


BeatThatQuote.com

Find out why John Paleomylites' price comparison site was crowned 'Business of the Year 2006'


Ben Keene

The Tribewanted co-founder on social enterprise, island shopping and why PR will make or break you


Bigger Feet

A 16-year-old entrepreneur in the media glare, Oliver Bridge is keeping his feet on the ground


Black Circles

Michael Welch's tyre firm got his big name rivals into a spin while he was barely into his 20s. He tells us how he did it


Boardman Bookings

Former dancer Emma Boardman on how she gave up the stage to become a top entrepreneur


BrainJuicer

John Kearon decided to stop thinking up great ideas for other companies and set up BrainJuicer, his own online market research firm


Bravissimo

Discover how the success of Bravissimo caught its founder, Sarah Tremellen, unprepared


Broadland Rail

From soldier to entrepreneur: Find out how Geoff Warren's career change paid off


Burnt Sugar

Find out how fudge became big business for entrepreneur Justine Cather


Cains Brewery

Ajmail and Sudarghara Dusanj are hoping to toast success in their battle against the beer giants


CIGA Healthcare

Irwin Armstrong has forged a niche in the home-testing healthcare market. He tells us how.


CK Net

Chris Kelly started his new fantastic new business while studying medicine at Cambridge. We find out how


Claire Priest

The founder of Blessd tells Startups why her company will be the solution to hundreds of curvy women who find it hard to buy clothes that fit.


Clare Yarwood-White

Clare stepped out of the shadow of her famous father to set up a successful jewellery business


Coffee Nation

Coffee-to-go has been an instant success for Martyn Dawes


Coffee Republic

Bobby Haschemi tells how he and his sister woke up one day and smelt the coffee


Corizon

Eric Guilloteau left his job at BT to woo investors and create Corizon, a software product company


David Lea-Watson

The Anglesey Sea Salt Company founder on surviving five years of financial loss


Dominic Lyon

The Young Guns founder explains how some pretty smooth blagging landed the company its first gig


Dominic McVey

The entrepreneurial whizz-kid talks to Startups.co.uk about his amazing rise to success.


Easyhear

Jonathan Ormerod tells us how he is revolutionising the hearing aid market


eCourier

Startups Award-winning Tom Allason has delivered success with his innovative courier company


EG SOLUTIONS

Despite struggling to get a bank account in the early days, Elizabeth Gooch has made Eg Solutions into a continent-spanning success.


Eight Inch

Gary Nicholson always wanted to be his own boss. Now his business is going from strength to strength.


Ella's Kitchen

Paul Lindley's kids' food company is as popular with parents as it is with children. He tells us why.


Elliot Rhodes

Justin Rhodes has turned the humble belt into the basis of a Startup Award-winning business. He tells us how


Especially for you Designs

After realising there was a gap in the market for quality wedding stationery, Annabelle Hamilton has seen her business grow and grow


Farmhouse Fare

Helen Colley took a no-nonsense approach to make her hot pudding business a success. She tells us how


Fat Face

Jukes Leaver & Tim Slade started off selling t-shirts at ski resorts, now they're turning over £25 million


Feel Good Drinks

If awards were given for happy staff, Feel Good Drinks would be a shoe-in. Co-founder David Wallwork explains why the firm has a smile on its face


FemaleSOCCER.net

Salma Rana realised there was a gap in the market for a women's football website. She's since scored a spectacular success with FemaleSOCCER.net.


For Parents By Parents

Following a stillbirth, Pat Moores was frustrated at the lack of honest information on parenting. So she set up her own website, to stunning success.


Forever Natural

Sam Hunter's cosmetics firm has flourished with a little help from her family


Fresh Eric's Cake Company

The Micro Business of the Year winner at the Startups Awards has found the right ingredients to success


FruityFaces

Paige Allen reveals how she made the piece of fruit in kids' lunchboxes fun


Gez Walsh

The Innergy LPG founder on why it took him so long to pluck up the courage to go solo


Giles Andrews

The Zopa managing director explains where the idea came from, how they got regulatory approval, and how they dealt with the loss of their founder.


Glasses Direct

At just 22-years-old James Murray Wells has come from nowhere and taken the world of optometry by storm


GoinGreen

Startups Awards winner Keith Johnston reveals how innovation helped his business to the top


GreenThumb

Stephen Waring's first office was in the back of his Ford Sierra, but has since seen his business blossom


Growaforest

Christian Woolfenden's not-for-profit tree-planting business impressed judges at the Startups Awards. Find out why


Hambleton Hall hotel and restaurant

A former city banker who had a change of heart in business


Hire Intelligence Manchester

Paul Gilmore has certainly shown the potential of the franchise. He tells us about his success.


HM Virtual Assistant

Motherhood spurred Hayley Miller into starting a business. She tells Startups.co.uk how she did it.


Holroyd Howe

Rick Holroyd and Nick Howe have formed the perfect partnership to take the catering world by storm


Hungry Henry's

Erika Harman makes a living out of the ultimate supply and demand industry: offering food to hungry people


iBETX

Rocky Mirza is an entrepreneurial heavyweight. Before launching iBETX, an online betting exchange, he'd had several other online ventures and has plans for more. He talked to Startups.co.uk about launching on iBETX and shared a few hot tips for those of you that fancy a flutter!


Identikids

Identikids founder Nadine Lewis explains how her booming business is keeping lost children safe


IMS Lettings

We talk to IMS Lettings founder, Chris Griffin, Startups Service Business of the Year 2005


Indigo New Media

Iain Scott explains how working for free helped boost the profile of his company


Infobasis

Ashley Wheaton explains how he fulfilled a 20-year dream by starting up leading skills firm Infobasis


Inn or Out Ltd.

How a passion for business has given Lena Bjorck her just desserts


Intelligent Marketing

Katharine Roseweare and Tricia Weener have overcome adversity to make quick-fire success of their business


IntY

In eight years, Mark Herbert has expanded his IT startup InTy into a global operation with a quarter of a million customers.


James Taylor

The SportStars founder and winner of the 2007 Startups Awards explains how he turned £1,000 into £1.2m


John Paleomylites

Startups has a catch-up session with the BeatThatQuote.com founder.

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Julian Richer

The Richer Sounds founder talks to Startups.co.uk about his career and entrepreneurship


K2 Legal Support

A specialist copy shop was the route to success for two brothers. Find out how.


Kell Systems

We speak to the award winning Kell Systems, who have opened up a totally new market with their innovative ideas.


Kerrie Keeling

The founder of A Woman's Touch on breaking the mould with her all-female property maintenance business


Kids Allowed

Jennie Johnson tells us how frustration at the lack of decent childcare services led her to set up own award-winning centres


Kinexus

Zubeir Mukri's deliberate approach, alongside business partner Chris Bint, has helped his email marketing firm flourish


Liz Jackson

The Great Guns Marketing founder on why turning down two job offers was her best career move to date


LogBuy

Karina Thomsen and David Wall have transported success across the North Sea with their business discount firm


Love Those Shoes

Glenys Berd reveals why her online shoe venture fits so well


Lush Cosmetics

Andrew Gerrie talks about Lush's rise to the top


Luxtech

Russell Lux went from selling PCs to fellow students at university to running a multi-million pound IT firm


Making it in the UK

Jurga Zilinskiene explains her experience of starting up a business after moving to the UK


Matt McNeill

eTickets founder on why they're changing the industry and reaching out to smaller events


Matthew Riley

The Daisy Communications founder on preparing for an AIM flotation


Mike Lucy

While working in the catering trade, Lucy decided to go it alone. His group of restaurants are now worth £9 million.


New Moon

Caroline Rowland can take some pride from the London 2012 Olympic bid - her startup firm provided the promotional film


Nick Robertson

The ASOS founder talks about fashion, celebrities and making it big online


Nutratech

Tim Vyrenhoef, founder of Nutratech, tells us about his technology based dieting business


Oliver Bishop

The Steak Media co-founder on growing fast and resisting corporate buy-outs


OneCompare.com

Anthony Ball is creating a buzz in the mobile phone world with his online comparison service. He talks to Startups.co.uk


P & J Smoothies

Harry Cragoe reveals how to sample the taste of success


Personal Time Saver

Cash-rich, time-poor Londoners are the lifeblood of Alex Fontaine's successful concierge business. The Startups.co.uk award winner tells us how she made it.


Preethi Nair

Faced with a lack of interest in her debut book, Preethi Nair did the less than obvious - set up her own publishing company, create an alter ego and keep the whole thing a secret from friends and family. It worked.


Pret A Manger

How this succesful sandwhich shop filled up a gap in the market


Red Mullet

Design with a difference


Red Mullet Design

Never content to follow the crowd Jim Fowle and Dave King offer multi-media design with a difference.


Reef One Ltd

There's nothing fishy about this company's rise to the top


Responsibletravel.com

Find out how Justin Francis carved out a place in the tourist industry with his eco-friendly travel firm.


Rob Small

The Miniclip founder explains how he gets 36 million visitors to log on to his games site


Rock and Ruby

Childcare and the blow of redundancy didn't stop Gemma Stone launching her own events firm


Rock and Ruby

Gemma Stone's redundancy laid the foundations of Rock and Ruby, one the UK's brightest event management firms


Royal Day Spa & Health Club

Shelley Murphy has pursued a holistic approach with her award winning business


SailTime

Jonathan Duffy's love of sailing inspired him to set up a UK arm of SailTime, a successful yacht-sharing business.


Sands Franchising

Kerry and Derek Ellway explain why their beauty franchise cares


SEAMS

Mark Engelhardt tells us how his software company has been doubling business year on year


Seb Bishop

The pay-per-click pioneer, and star of Millionaires' Mission, on the rewards of social enterprise


Sheila Holdsworth

The founder of the online bra store Know Knockers talks about finding a 'small' in the market


Sitewizard.co.uk

Adrian Reeves rode the dot.com storm to make a huge success of website provider Sitewizard.co.uk


SmileSavers

Simon Purchall's cracked teeth led to the formation of a business - with a little help from a country over 1,000 miles from the UK


So Organic

Samantha Burlton's business has tapped into the organic products market to great success. We find out how she did it


Sokratis Papafloratos

The Trustedplaces founder on why good staff are the most important aspect of running a business.

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Spinvox

Christina Domecq tells us how she's hoping to reach the £100m turnover mark within a few years with her voice-to-text-business.


State of Undress

Emma Cheevers and Alex Suhner have turned heads in the fashion world with their lingerie business


Streetcar

Andrew Valentine and Brett Akker found success by starting up a car rental business with a twist


Susie Willis

The founder of Plum Baby on how she started her organic baby food business.


The Advert Channel

Chelsey Baker's varied career has seen her be a model, financial trader and actress. She is now building a mini TV empire. She tells us how.


The Cinnamon Club

How a new type of Indian cuisine became a real hot ticket


The Iron Bed Company

This husband and wife team has been helping the public to a more stylish bedtime since 1994


The Little Experience

Tai Broadhurst explains how her Startups Award-winning business has toyed with success


The Officers' Club

David Charlton exemplifies the entrepreneurs’ dictum: if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again


The Tantric Club

Alpa Saujani's idea of playing cupid for Asian professionals led to a business set up with real passion - the Tantric Club


The Wine Adventure

Pip Martin's love affair with wine prompted him to go it alone with The Wine Adventure - a successful tasting company


Tiffinbites

Jamal Hirani reveals how a passion for healthy home-cooked Indian food led to his chain of restaurants


Today Translations

Arriving in the UK just eight years ago from her native Lithuania, Jurga Zilinskiene has a thriving translation business with over 200 clients


Tom Ilube

The Garlik co-founder talks Egg, Tim Berners-Lee and £13bn flotations


Touchdown Marketing

Touchdown was started as a standard marketing agency, but evolved into something unique, an agency that puts brands together with other brands


Trichocare Diagnostics

After 40 years in the haircare industry, silver fox Brian Plunkett has developed an award winning new idea


U Star Novels

Katie Olver tells us how she set up her extremely popular personalised novel company.


Urban Splash

Tom Bloxham single-handedly kick-started the loft living boom that has transformed the once grim and grimy centres of the cities of north west England


Valueflora

Russell Hirst set up his online florist business for £10. Find out how he did it.


Vama

Arjun Varma serves Indian food all over the world and has clients that include royalty and A-list celebrities.


Victoria Real

Victoria Real is run by a couple of guys who just want to do what they’re interested in – and so far they’re doing rather well at it.


Wayne Hemingway

The sharp-suited fashion entrepreneur talks to Startups.co.uk