BT Business launches campaign to capture the essence of the UK’s entrepreneurs

BT Business launches campaign to capture the essence of the UK’s entrepreneurs

BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur celebrates the achievements of small businesses that have demonstrated exceptional dedication and have found new directions to succeed in business with the help of technology. The competition will culminate in an exhibition of photographs of the 20 winners taken by renowned photographer Perou.

A panel of judges, including successful entrepreneurs and industry experts, will select the UK’s 20 most impressive entrepreneurs. In addition, the judges will be looking for the best female entrepreneur, best male entrepreneur, the young entrepreneur of the year and the most original business concept. To visualise the success of these entrepreneurs, photographer Perou will hold a photo shoot designed to capture the essence of each of entrepreneur and their business as a portrait.

Perou has photographed celebrities from Coldplay and U2 through to Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and David Beckham and was involved in the Essence of the Entrepreneur campaign in 2006. He has worked on high-profile fashion campaigns for Vivienne Westwood, shooting her two most recent campaigns and has shot covers and features for Vogue, GQ, Arena, and Dazed and Confused.

The series of 20 photographs will then feature in a high-profile exhibition in November at gallery@oxo, on London’s South Bank. Last year businesses from across the length and breadth of the UK entered the competition and the winners represented a diverse range of industries from garden design to a diet delivery service to a sausage manufacturing company.

Alice Bowe of English Landscape and Garden Design, said: “I didn’t think I would win such an award. I was amazed my business could be recognised this way. It helped tremendously in raising my profile.” Paul Jackson of First Recovery, said: “I was proud to have won BT’s ‘Essence of the Entrepreneur’ award last year – and being photographed by Perou was a real experience. As a direct result of contacts made at the resulting exhibition, my company landed a major deal to provide our disaster recovery and online data backup services to British Chambers of Commerce members.”

Bill Murphy, managing director, BT Business, said: “SMEs are the lifeblood of the UK economy. We want to applaud their determination to succeed, celebrate the power of the idea, and capture the essence of their entrepreneurial spirit. “As some of the images from last year’s exhibition testify, Perou’s work with the businesses will provide them with a striking visual identity, and us with an inspirational insight into their passion and commitment.”

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