Former Royal Marines pick up NatWest Entrepreneurial Spirit Award
Two Plymouth based former Royal Marines have won the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award at the 2018 NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards in Cardiff.
Peter Kelly and Kieron Yeoman, the founders of Imployable, beat off tough competition in order to pick up the award, with a record number of businesses entering the awards nationally across the wide range of categories.
Imployable is an employment app that allows users to identify, map and track their way in to a new career, the app has drawn a lot of attention, the company has partnered with Google and has been picked up for trials with the JobCentre, Ministry of Justice and Military resettlement charities before a full scale launch in January.
Peter and Kieron came up with the app idea after Peter Kelly left the Royal Marines and quickly become unemployed.
“I spent 9 months unemployed after leaving the Royal Marines due to a lack of experience, I was highly qualified and unemployable, it was a tough time for me as I quickly spiralled in to debt and a state of poor mental health.”
“After 9 months it took another former Serviceman, Army Captain Oliver Lippiett to see my worth and take me on as a project manager in his app development business. Once employed I had time to reflect on what went wrong and just how broken the system is, I had an underlying passion to change it and that’s what we aim to do with the imployable app”
Now in its sixth year, the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards has celebrated some amazing entrepreneurs over the years, many of whom are now household names. Past winners include David Buttress of Just Eat, Julie Deane OBE of The Cambridge Satchel Company, James Watt of BrewDog and most recently, Hannah and Sophie Pycroft of Spectrum Collections.
Creator of the Awards, Francesca James, said: “We have been inundated with some incredible entries this year, and all shortlisted applicants should be extremely proud of themselves!
Winners were crowned across 12 categories in total including Family Business, Entrepreneurs’ Champion and Entrepreneurial Spirit.
Francesca added: “2018 has been a record year for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the number of entries we received. But the quality of applications has been above and beyond what we’ve seen in previous years.
“Just getting to the gala final as a finalist is a huge achievement given the competition on show, so to walk away with a trophy in your hand deserves huge congratulations.”
Darren Pirie, Head of Entrepreneur Development, NatWest, said: “We are incredibly proud to support these important awards again in 2018. The number and calibre of entries this year proves that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Wales and the South West.
“I want to extend my huge congratulations to all the winners, and hope that their businesses continue to grow in the future.”
The NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards will celebrate entrepreneurship across a number of categories at 5 gala finals across the UK, including; Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester & London. You can find more information about the awards and the ceremonies here: www.greatbritishentrepreneurawards.com.