Nishrat Islam
Meet last year’s finalists
Our enterprise ideas challenge, Flare, is a highly competitive annual competition that gives Herts student and alumni entrepreneurs the support and training they need to bring their business ideas to life, no matter how far along they are in development.
Each year finalists compete for prizes, and attendees of the awards ceremony have an opportunity to cast their vote for their favourite business in the People's Choice Award, which has a cash prize of up to £500.
The winner of the People's Choice and our highly coveted award categories were announced at a celebratory awards presentation and networking event which took place in June 2022 at the Enterprise Hub.
Will you be there this year?
2022 Winners
Lifestyle business of the year - £2,000
Awarded to the business where the focus is not on growing rapidly but sustaining a way of life for the owner.
Winner - Farrell Masterson for his boxing training business, The Combination Club
Social impact award - £2,000
This award recognises businesses, ideas or solutions that operate in both an ethical and socially impactful manner, whose core aim is to improve the world we live in.
Winner - Lauren Williams for her fashion brand By Lauren Williams
Innovation and impact award - £2,500
Awarded to highly innovative and creative ideas and solutions, demonstrating a bold approach to disrupting the market or the potential to do so.
Winner - Stephan Trotman for his event and media platform, The Freezer
Scalable business award - £3,500
Supported by Santander. For those entrepreneurs with a well-developed idea or a trading business, a detailed business plan and the potential to scale quickly.
Winner - Oke Oladimeji Amos for his PR/Communications PRBEAN
People's choice award - £500
As voted for by the audience.
Winner - Oke Oladimeji Amos for his PR/Communications PRBEAN
Engineers in Business Fellowship award - £1,500
Supported by the Engineers in Business Fellowship, this award is available to entrants whose teams are made up of engineers or to multidisciplinary teams that include at least one engineer. Ideas must have an engineering focus to qualify for this prize.
Winner - Harpreet Singh for his interactive investor education and awareness platform, NiveshaQ
Meet the finalists
School of Creative Arts
Business name: Bground
Bground is a contemporary athleisure brand that uses recycled coffee grounds within its materials to create a positive environment for the earth and us. Practicality is our speciality and consumers’ comfortability is at the forefront of everything we make. Unlock the Zen in oneself, let go of your mind, and allow the body to create.
Elise Miller
School of Life and Medical Sciences
Business name: Azyre Blue

Azyre Blue is an innovative, afro-futuristic and eco-conscious DJ brand, selling eco-friendly headphones and an exclusive influencer membership. Not only does it stand as the UK's first ever sustainable headphone brand for music professionals, but every aspect of the business model is sustainable and eco-friendly. It strives to raise awareness of the environmental crisis and bring about a change in consumer habits. The power of music can be the power of change.
Stephan Trotman
Hertfordshire Business School
Business name: The Freezer

“The Freezer” is an event and media platform designed to showcase and promote underground and upcoming DJ talent via the mediums of professionally filmed and recorded guest mixes, and live events held within unique hidden venues.
Operations will be based predominantly online, catering content creation towards a British audience, with any planned events to be debuted and hosted in or around the London area.
Social media and industry-based platforms such as Instagram and Twitch will enable the platform to grow, allowing homegrown talent to create content with an extended reach, and garner the recognition deserved.
Lanre Ogunya
School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science
Business name: Cartirium

Helping entrepreneurs and business start-ups to launch their online stores without the large upfront web development costs, allowing them to focus on growth without worrying about technology. Providing website self-help tools for customers thereby helping vendors reduce time spent on resolving customer issues.
Harpreet Singh
School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science
Business name: NiveshaQ
NiveshaQ is an investor education and awareness focused initiative intending to help people willing to keep their financial knowledge up to date in a fun and interactive way. One-stop for everyone to learn and build an investment portfolio and diversify their assets. Our target audience consists of those between the ages of 16 and 55. Be it a student or an earning individual, we have it covered!
Oke Oladimeji Amos
Hertfordshire Business School
Business name: PR Bean
PRbean.com is a one-stop affordable and easy-to-use PR/Communications and Marketing software designed to help small businesses, start-ups, PR and marketing agencies and enterprises connect with the media, track industry conversations, and turn data into actionable marketing strategies.
Niamh Macleod
School of Creative Arts
Business Name: Shoddy Threads
Shoddy Threads is a streetwear brand which deconstructs second-hand clothes to make new ones that are relevant to a young urban customer. By also making the brand a platform to spread awareness for social and environmental causes we aim to reduce textile waste and contribute to greener fashion.
Tanwi Nandkeolyar
School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science
Business name: "iHealthy"
iHealthy app – your daily health companion - promotes a healthy lifestyle by targeting smoking, alcohol intake, eating, physical activity, screen time and stress. It provides guideline-based, custom-made daily lifestyle targets, reminders, prompts and resources on your mobile phone to motivate you. The iHealthy app will be free of charge, on the Apple store and Google Play.
Farrell Masterson
School of Life and Medical Sciences
Business Name: The Combination Club

The Combination Club is a multi-site, boxing class chain working on a hall hire basis. The aim of the company is to teach boxing to as many as possible and give people the chance to be part of a great community.
Lauren Williams
School of Creative Arts
Business Name: By Lauren Williams

By Lauren Williams is a London-based fashion brand established in 2018 that offers high quality street-couture fuelled by the concept of Sisterhood and Black British Culture, ethically and sustainable produced in Lauren's home-based studio, designed to make you feel one in a million rather than one of millions.