Thousands flock to Sheffield for UK’s biggest entrepreneur event
Thousands of small firms and would-be business owners are heading to Sheffield this week to attend MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival.
The packed schedule at the UK’s biggest entrepreneur event includes presentations by some of the leading names from the worlds of business and motivation. They include:
- Paul McKenna, the world-renowned self-help guru;
- Wayne Hemingway, fashion & design entrepreneur, founder of Red or Dead;
- Jamal Edwards, the founder of SB.TV and self-made multi-millionaire;
- Fraser Doherty, who founded SuperJam aged 14 using his gran’s recipes;
- Michelle Mone, the Scottish model and founder of the Ultimo bra range;
- Shaa Wasmund, the founder of Smarta, the social enterprise company;
- Levi Roots, the Dragons’ Den winner of Reggae Reggae Sauce fame;
- Doug Richard, visionary entrepreneur and founder of School for Startups; and
- Yasmina Siadatan, winner of the 5th series of The Apprentice.
The above and other star speakers will be revealing top tips and strategies on how to succeed in business at the two-day event at Sheffield City Hall on September 24 and 25.
MADE kicks off with a train departure from London St Pancras to Sheffield on Wednesday 24 September, with a photo call of VIPs with the ‘Entrepreneurs Express’ on the platform at 09:30.
The first day then sees a major presentation from Paul McKenna, who will also be available for media interviews.
On the second day, as well as the star speakers, a senior government minister will be making a keynote address at the festival, which a total of more than 3,000 delegates are expected to attend.
And the UK winner of the Emerging Entrepreneur Award 2014 will be revealed at a Gala Dinner on the evening of 25 September – with shortlisted finalists attending from across the UK. These include:
- Lewis Bowen, of Geco Industries in Sheffield;
- James Brown, of Beer52 in Edinburgh;
- David Carr, of the Frank & Bird pub company in Newcastle;
- Amrit Chandan and Scott Hardman, of Blue Vine Consultants in Birmingham;
- Cliff Dennett, of SoshiGames in Birmingham;
- Zoe Farrington, of REALsafe Technologies, Durham;
- Claire Morley-Jones, of HR180, Leeds; and
- Cally Russell, of Mallzee, Edinburgh.
The wider MADE festival also includes numerous specialist fringe events from 22-26 September, including an exhibition.
The festival is being organised by business services provider BE Group, under licence from Sheffield City Council, with business software specialist SAGE, law firm Irwin Mitchell, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield College all key partners.
Alastair MacColl, BE Group chief executive, said: “MADE will be one of the UK’s most important business events and we’re really pleased to have attracted so many high-profile business men and women to share their success stories.
“There are limited spaces still available for delegates and we’d advise these are booked quickly to guarantee being part of what will be a tremendously useful festival for any budding or developing entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
Speaking about his appearances at MADE, Paul McKenna, author of best-selling titles including I Can Make You CONFIDENT and I Can Make You THIN, said: “I won’t just have a few tips for people attending MADE, I’ll have an actual strategy – the strategy of the super achievers.”
Fraser Doherty, who launched SuperJam at the age of 14 using his gran’s recipes and now supplies more than 2,000 supermarkets around the world, said: “I’ll be talking about all the things I’ve learned along the way, including the mistakes I’ve made, the advice I’ve followed, the downs and the ups.”
And Jamal Edwards, whose youth broadcasting channel SB.TV amassed millions of views on YouTube and saw him become a self-made multi-millionaire, said: “I really want to empower my generation to see the power digital can bring to them at an economic and sociological level.”
