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Enterprising Britain - 2008 winner

The winner of the Enterprising Britain 2008 South West regional heat was Plymouth's Business Growth project.

The particular success of the project, which was well conveyed during the regional competition and when a member of the national judging panel visited the region, was the city's common sense of purpose and shared goal of making Plymouth the enterprise capital of the South West.

Partners from across the city explained how they had been working jointly to achieve this goal via activities including:

  • The Plymouth Summer Festival
  • Business support in deprived areas
  • An Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp
  • Enterprise Week - greatest number of events and activities in the region

Representatives of The Plymouth Business Growth Project travelled up to 11 Downing Street on the 16th October 2008 to receive their award as the South West winner of the Enterprising Britain competition. The project was pipped at the post to the national award, which Scarborough took home, but there were nevertheless some positives to note. These included words of encouragement from a national judge who said Plymouth was 'right up there' and should enter again, and special mention for the South West for receiving the largest number of entries in the regional heats.

The Plymouth reps agreed that the regional win and words of encouragement will spur them on to success in the 2009 competition and to stage their best Enterprise Week yet (17th-23rd November 2008 http://www.gew.org.uk).

Enterprising Britain logo

Tourists outside Plymouth Aquarium