2010/11 flare winners

flare Business of the Year 2011

Betina Andersen - Fetofit

The top award, flare Business of the Year 2011 was awarded to Betina along with a prize fund comprising a cash grant, cheques from sponsors Deloitte and Exemplas and one year's membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Betina is currently developing and patenting her design for a new type of strap to improve foetal monitoring during pregnancy and childbirth. She is already in talks with distributors, manufacturers and the NHS. She had the idea for the product whilst studying for a BSc (Hons) in Midwifery at the University of Hertfordshire.

Best Business Plan

Alex Bracq - Go2

Alex was awarded a prize fund comprising cash, a year of office space and market research services from flare sponsor Marketest. He was also awarded one year's membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Alex's tour operating company Go2 plans to offer travel and events for an extensive market. His subsidiary, Go2 Clubs is already running successfully and offers exclusive nightlife trips for Hertfordshire based students.

Alex has just completed a business degree at the University of Hertfordshire.

Most Innovative Idea

Ryan Flanagan - UniNav

Ryan was awarded the prize for Most Innovative Idea. He received a prize fund of cash, digital consultancy with flare sponsor Clock and a meeting with sponsor Ariadne Capital – a global ambassador of entrepreneurship. Ryan also received a year's membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Ryan's unique business idea is an indoor navigation system to help users find their way around large buildings such as university campuses or hospitals.

Ryan is a Computer Science graduate from the University of Hertfordshire.

Best Pitch

Mary Westlake and Sareeta Patel - RECRO.

To help kick start their business, RECRO. was awarded a cash grant and a year's membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

RECRO.'s innovative business idea is to provide art-based workshops to London children aged between five and 11 in order to teach them about ecological living.

Mary and Sareeta have both just completed Masters degrees in Education at the University of Hertfordshire.

Most Viable Business

Kerry Wright - Sick Little Monkeys

Kerry was awarded a prize of six months business consultancy with Streets Chartered Accountants after being named Most Viable Business. She also received cash and a year's membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Kerry's unique business idea is to licence designs for characters that she has created and have them applied to clothing and posters, made into figurines and also developed into game concepts for smartphone applications.

Kerry is a Special Effects graduate from the University of Hertfordshire.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Owandji Okutu & Kazadi Mwamba - Cool Learning

Cool Learning took the award for Entrepreneurial Spirit and was given a prize of digital consultancy with flare sponsor Netcel and a year's free office space within the University of Hertfordshire's Incubation Centre. They also received one year's membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Cool Learning's business idea is to deliver fun and engaging workshops to primary school students within London to help them improve their social skills.

Owandji is a business studies graduate from the University of Hertfordshire.