Strategic outsourcing and energy giants Mitie has crowned the winners of its Business Boost competition, designed to support the development of local entrepreneurs in Cumbria.
With this year’s competition focused on local catering companies, the two winners were announced as Three Hills Gelato, a producer of premium ice cream, and Bakes by Gina, a bakery business specialising in cakes and traybakes.
The competition is one of Mitie’s commitments to support Sellafield’s social impact multiplied strategy (SiX) as part of their facilities management contract with Sellafield.
As competition winners, Three Hills Gelato and Bakes by Gina will each receive £10,000 in prize money donated by Mitie, access to the Cumbrian Larder Board (a local food and drink suppliers network for businesses looking to promote their local produce), business mentoring from local fresh produce supplier, Caterite, as well as a free stand at Caterite’s Food and Drink Show in June.
Set out in a Dragon’s Den-style contest, Mitie’s competition attracted a diverse selection of local entrepreneurs who were each tasked with presenting their business ideas to a panel of judges made up of industry experts.
This included Ollie Bridgwater, CEO of Source, the Michelin-starred restaurant at the Gilpin Hotel and Lake House in Windermere; Ewan Frost-Pennington, director of operations at Muncaster Castle; Tariq Malik, commercial director at Caterite; Claire McLean, founder and CEO of Realise HR; and Beverly Winrow, chief operations officer for technical services at Mitie.
Working in partnership with Baxterstorey and Caterite, and with support from long-term customer Sellafield Ltd, Mitie launched the Business Boost competition to foster entrepreneurship in Cumbria.
Mitie’s relationship with Sellafield Ltd, Europe’s largest nuclear site, started over 20 years ago, expanding from a cleaning contract to now providing a fully integrated facilities management service for the Cumbria Consortium contract, which covers multiple sites across Cumbria and Warrington and employs 550 people.
Lesley Sewell, strategic account director at Mitie said: “As a major local employer, we’re committed to supporting small businesses in Cumbria and the Mitie Business Boost competition has been a fantastic opportunity to see first-hand the entrepreneurial spirit across the region.
“Congratulations to our worthy winners, Three Hills Gelato and Bakes by Gina, as well as to all of our excellent finalists who made this a very challenging competition for our judges! We look forward to seeing all the businesses involved flourish and grow.”
Steve Glasson, interim supply chain director at Sellafield Ltd, said: “The Mitie Business Boost is a great demonstration of alignment to our social impact strategy, co-creating a project and involving multiple tiers within their supply chain. The lift through the donation and support the businesses will receive will make a huge difference to their growth and taking that next step.”
