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Blueprint business finalists announced

A non-toxic crop spray, ethically produced party bags and an online student accommodation portal are amongst the business ideas that have made it to the regional final of the 2009 North East Universities Business Planning Competition, Blueprint.

The finalists will battle it out for a share of £30,000 cash and £25,000 in-kind support.

The 10 ‘Business Awards’ finalists will be accompanied by the ‘Science & Technology’ and ‘Creativity & Design’ entrants, announced in September at the ‘Pilot your Pitch’ event.

The Blueprint Grand Final on 20 October will see entries from academics and staff teams, graduates, undergraduates and alumni, make their final pitch and presentation in hope of winning the top prize in one of the three award categories.

New business concepts revealed by the 2009 Blueprint finalists include: Irish Ancestral Holidays, from Durham University - an ancestral tour company targeting people with Irish family roots; and Nano Agrochemicals, from the University of Teesside - a company that is developing a non-toxic crop spray.

Co-Founder of Blueprint, professor Brian Tanner from the North East Centre for Scientific Enterprise (NECSE) said: “There is a strong entrepreneurial culture running through the region’s five universities and each year I become more and more impressed with the creativity of business ideas and the overall standards just keep getting higher.

“This year, we are calling for more sponsors to keep this spirit of enterprise alive. In the midst of a recession, it is more important now than ever to support and encourage entrepreneurial achievements from our region.”

This year’s sponsors include, One North East, Dickinson Dees, NET Park, The Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Musa Fine Art, Finance Tree, North Star Equity Investors, Marks & Clerk, RTC-North, Entrust, The Journal, Ward Hadaway and Alpha Graphics, North East Finance, Garbeau, Business Link, Element 5 Design and bgroup.

If you are interested in finding out more about the sponsorship opportunities or to book a table, contact Jill Flowers on: (0191) 334 3210, or email scientific.enterprise@dur.ac.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .