New award offers £25k prize to young entrepreneurs

Young Entrepreneurs could win a £25,000 investment with the launch of a new award.

The Richard Hallt Young Entrepreneur Award, run by consultancy 10th Bridge in connection with national youth work charity UK Youth will see one lucky young entrepreneur awarded £25,000 to develop their business idea.

Young people are urged to apply for the award, which is open to anyone aged 18-25, regardless of what stage their business is at and whether they are in education, working or neither.

Matt Price, 10th Bridge Chief Executive Officer and vice-chairman of the UK Youth board of trustees said: “We are excited to announce an entrepreneurship competition designed to identify and invest in the most promising young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 25. Our goal is to identify and nurture the next generation of talented entrepreneurs by supporting the development of business plans to make dream business ideas become a reality. This is an opportunity not just to win a £25,000 investment, but to develop important business planning skills for tomorrows business leaders.”

The award is named after Richard Hallt, a colleague and friend to many at 10th Bridge until his death in 2023.

Matt said: “A stalwart of our industry for more than three decades, Richard’s knowledge and expertise combined with his warm personality are missed. Richard was also a strong supporter of UK Youth, and became an advocate of those young people in need, frequently putting his money towards worthy causes. We are therefore delighted to name the Young Entrepreneur Award after him and hope it will provide a fitting memorial of his life and work.”

The competition is structured over four stages, with each stage designed to identify the most promising entries, culminating in a final event where one winner will be awarded a £25,000 investment.

Entries are now open. To enter, applicants need to complete a business model canvas for their idea and record a video about themselves.

Judges will then select a shortlist of entrants whose business ideas have the highest chance of success. Those shortlisted will be invited to develop a business plan and design a pitch deck summarising their plan.

The finalists will then be assigned a member of the 10th Bridge team to support them and help them improve their plan before they present it in front of the panel, from which a winner will be awarded a £25,000 investment in a new entity as an equal partnership with 10th Bridge.

To support the work of UK Youth, 10 per cent of the company’s future profits will be donated to the charity. For further information and to enter, see 10thbridge.com/ventures

Our goal is to identify and nurture the next generation of talented entrepreneurs by supporting the development of business plans to make dream business ideas become a reality.

Matt Price, 10th Bridge Chief Executive Officer

10th Bridge was set up in 2020 to offer specialist consulting services, with an aim to solve complex problems and deliver solutions which help its clients deliver better outcomes for their customers and stakeholders.

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 8,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability, including Hatch, a youth employability programme run in partnership with KFC. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes