This unique and prestigious award is being sponsored by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the serial entrepreneur best known for founding easyJet, and run in partnership with Leonard Cheshire Disability. Leonard Cheshire Disability recently lauched the 'Ready to Start' programme which supports disabled people in becoming self-employed. The creation of the award was motivated by Stelios’ goal of not only supporting disabled entrepreneurs, but also raising awareness of the skills and inventiveness of those with disabilities.
It is now the third year of the award, which was launched in 2007. Leonard Cheshire are working in partnership with Stelios to find the winning disabled entrepreneur, who will be awarded a £50,000 prize to fund the further growth of their business.
Visit our documents page to download the application form, or visit www.disabledentrepreneur.org
Application for the 2009 award will open on Monday 1st June 2009.
Application for the 2009 award will close on Friday 4th September 2009 (5pm).
What the judges will ultimately be looking for is those with a disability who demonstrate exceptional entrepreneurial spirit. In other words, this award is about seeking out and celebrating business ability.
Entry criteria
- We will only accept entries from a person who has a recognised disability. The Disability Discrimination Act guidelines on disability to be followed: The act defines a disabled person as a person with a mental or physical impairment which has a substantial or long term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
- The applicant must be a permanent part of the management team for the business he or she is basing the application on. The applicant must have personal ownership in the business of no less than 25%.
- The business must have annual turnover in excess of £10,000.
- The business must have been trading for more than 1 year and less than 5 years by the date of entry.
- The applicant must be able to produce 1 set of audited accounts with their application.
- The award is only open to UK registered businesses.
