Challenge Winners Unveiled

The winners of the ‘If we can, you can’ Challenge 2010, the North East’s regional entrepreneurial campaign celebrating entrepreneurship, are announced today.

The seven regional winners are Emily Pitkethly of Emily’s Ark, Joanna Feeley of Trend Bible, Darren Williams of Hair X Tensions, Adrian Cheesman of Demob Job, Charlotte Nichols of Harvey & Hugo PR, Barbara Chrisp of The Cabbage Patch and Chris Petty of Cornerstone Business Solutions.

Each winner represents their local media region as a ‘Face of Entrepreneurship 2011’. To read their inspiring stories as well as details of all the entrepreneurs who made the final round in the Challenge, please visit www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk/challenge

Carole Beverly, CEO of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum said: “I offer my congratulations to all the winners of this years’ ‘If we can, you can’ Challenge and well done to all our finalists for making it to the final stages of the Challenge. The sheer number of votes that have flooded in over the last month is testament to how the public has taken this campaign to their hearts and reflects the dedication of each finalist.”

Over 100 entrepreneurs entered the Challenge, all of which shared their enterprising story and joined the ever growing online community of like minded entrepreneurs at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk, which now has over 820 members and dedicated 112 mentors. The community encourages people to share their stories, offering budding and aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to tap into a wealth of experience of people who have ‘been there and done it’ by exchanging experiences and creating connections.

Carole added “For a third year, the Challenge has been an overwhelming success. It is not just the number of entrants that has been gratifying but also it’s their passion and drive to succeed through difficult financial times that has been inspiring. This is just the beginning and we are still urging those who didn’t manage to enter the Challenge to log on and become a member of ‘If we can, you can’ and tap into the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs from across the North East.”

‘If we can, you can,’ is a regional campaign which aims to unlock the entrepreneurial potential among the general public and is driven by the Entrepreneurs’ Forum and funded by One North East.