MARKET DEEPING ENTREPRENEURS CROWNED RUNNERS-UP IN NATIONAL START-UP BUSINESS AWARDS AND WALK AWAY WITH £7,000!

Runner-Up – Blue i UK Emma Crosby (Sky News), Darren Judd, Neil Walker and Huw Morgan (Head of Business Banking HSBC)

“Neil Walker and Darren Judd’s success at these national awards shows just what can be achieved by applying creative flair, determination and sound planning to a unique business opportunity. HSBC helps the entrepreneurs behind more than 96,675 new firms open their doors for business every year – that’s one every six minutes - so we understand first-hand what it takes to set up your own venture. We hope that by highlighting Blue i’s success we can inspire other budding entrepreneurs in London to take the plunge and go it alone.”

Huw Morgan, head of business banking, HSBC Bank

Two entrepreneurs from Market Deeping, who set up their own company designing, developing and manufacturing portable floodlighting products, have been named runners-up in the 2007 HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards – the UK’s premier showcase for the most promising start-up businesses and the inspirational entrepreneurs behind them.

Neil Walker (33) and Darren Judd (30) impressed the judging panel with their ability to spot and grasp a unique business opportunity to take second place in this year’s Awards. They were presented with their award, plus £7,000 courtesy of HSBC, at a glittering gala dinner attended by 300 guests at London’s Dorchester Hotel tonight.

The team’s experience in the lighting industry, combined with years of feedback and requests from industry clients, led them to develop a product range that forms the base of their business, Blue i UK Ltd.

What clients wanted was a long lasting, powerful, maintenance-free, cordless floodlight.

From a clean sheet of paper, Blue i UK has designed, developed and manufactured a revolutionary range of portable floodlighting products, aimed primarily to meet the needs of the rail industry, emergency services and utility companies. Since launching the business in May last year, the company has also identified key export countries and further opportunities in the defence sector.

The advantages of the products are significant. They utilise the very latest in LED technology with a life expectancy of 15 years, compared to three months from traditional bulb lighting - thus giving the user the confidence of zero maintenance in extreme environments. The products were designed with durability, reliability and convenience in mind. As a result, they give an industry-leading light duration of up to 60 hours from a single charge and are virtually indestructible.

The products and the company have received a number of awards and orders are flooding in. They are already well ahead of their first year sales forecast and anticipate turnover for the coming year in excess of £1.25 million, with more than 30% coming from exports.

The company is expanding to meet demand, creating a number of much needed high tech jobs in a rural area. They are in talks with a number of major associated businesses to develop joint venture projects and their research and development department is already working on the next generation of portable lighting products to ensure Blue i UK maintain their status as clear market leaders.

HSBC’s Head of Business Banking, Huw Morgan, added: “We hope the success of Blue i UK in this year’s HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards will help it go from strength to strength, as well as prove to other budding entrepreneurs that business dreams really can be turned into reality.”

Neil and Darren also win £4,000 worth of software from Intuit and Google.

To find out more about how to get a business off the ground, would-be entrepreneurs can order a copy of HSBC’s free Starting a Business pack by visiting www.ukbusiness.hsbc.com or calling 0800 328 6942.