The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has released a list of regional winners in its competition to find the nation’s most enterprising areas.
Twelve projects have been shortlisted in the DTI’s Enterprising Britain 2006 contest, representing each of the Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations, and will compete against each other at the UK final in September to become the national Enterprising Britain 2006 winner.
Regional winners include the West Kilbride Craft & Design Town, the Borough of Knowsley, Glynneath Training Centre, the Kent Science Park and the City Fringe Partnership in London.
Also moving on were the Rotherham Partnership, Bowthorpe BizFizz, Enterprising Burton, Enterprising People Partnership, Ballykeel Business Development Ltd., Acumen Community Development Trust and the Welland Sub-Regional Strategic Partnership.
The competition, which launched in January, is part of the DTI’s bid to increase entrepreneurship in the UK, and the contest aims to identify the UK’s top areas of enterprise excellence in terms of job creation, bringing communities together and making a difference to local businesses and local people.
“This competition is all about identifying those places that have brought communities together and made a real difference to local people and all the twelve regional winners do this excellently,” said Lynne Franks, national competition judge and entrepreneur and social enterprise ambassador.
“It recognises people at a local level who pool resources and create sustainable positive change. The twelve projects really demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit that exists in the UK.”
The overall winner will represent the UK in the European Enterprise Awards later this year, the DTI said.