Hi everyone, welcome back! First off I want to say thank you to everyone who’s reading this, read my blog in the past or followed me on Twitter, really I want to say thanks to anyone who cares enough to be interested in what I’m doing. Hopefully more and more people will begin to read this but if I’m honest if you read my blog consistently then thats enough. Please leave a comment, plug your twitter or anything else you have going, I’ll be sure to check it out or send you a message back.

I’ve had a lazy day in Brighton wandering the lanes, sitting on the beach watching the waves and strolling down the pier. I had a late lunch in The Basketmakers Arms an amazing little old pub packed full of people, they do one of the best freshly made burgers in Brighton, I should know I had it. One of the things I love most about Brighton is the people, it doesn’t take long to find someone to have a chat to and not much longer to find someone to talk to for hours as if you’ve known them forever. Being from London, one of the most anonymous cities in the world it’s a bit of a culture shock but a welcome one. I spent around two hours chatting to a couple of guys in the pub about universities and anything else that came to mind simply for something to do, I don’t do that very often and it was a great laugh, cheers Simon and Tom from Hove!

Today I got a reminder for Shell Livewire Live, a business networking event and presentation evening I am attending in just over a weeks time. At the event Shell Livewire will crown one lucky business person Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 and they’ll walk away with £10,000 for their business and a good PR boost. While I’m not up for an award I can’t wait to see the nominees and congratulate them on their achievement so far. The final eight companies are…

Daniel Woolman (Bini Products Ltd), London
Binifresh™ is a compact hygiene device designed to securely fit a wheelie bin and automatically spray every 4 hours to ensure that the wheelie bin stays fresh and hygienic. Binifresh is unique in its market in that it automatically neutralizes and eliminates odours from rubbish, as well as killing bacteria on the surface of the bin. It easily attaches to the wheelie bin and always stays fixed in place, not interfering with any of the waste collection machinery. The product was accepted for sale in Lakeland in the autumn of 2009, is also listed with John Lewis and ASDA / Walmart and will be launched nationwide in all ASDA stores in early October 2009.

Gregor Mackintosh (Mackintosh of Glendaveny), Peterhead, Aberdeenshire
Mackintosh of Glendaveny produces ‘Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil’ from home grown rapeseed. Basically a Scottish alternative to olive oil with fantastic cooking qualities and superior nutritional values, it’s also believed to help reduce cholesterol and fight against the chances of developing cancer and without all the food miles of imported olive oil.

Jon Petrie (DS Music UK Ltd), Monmouth
DS Music ® is one of the most comprehensively stocked sheet music specialists in the UK, stocking over 8,550 different products; over 7,000 different sheet music books, and thousands of accessories, music gifts and musical instruments.

Michael Turner (TurnKey I.T. Solutions), Somerset
Turnkey I.T. Solutions provide business VoIP services, web development, IT Consultancy and managed IT Support services, to SME’s. They have developed a number of new applications including SMS Calendar – a web-based appointment scheduling, rota and diary system that enables staff to create appointments, book rooms/resources, as well as automatically remind their customers of appointments via text message, and Electronic Message Board – an In/Out board that enables staff to use their mobile phones to update staff on their location.

Robert Matthams (Shiply.com), London
Shiply.com has been likened to “eBay but for moving goods” by The Daily Telegraph, providing an online marketplace where everyday consumers and businesses list items they need to move and then receive bids in a reverse auction format from thousands of transport providers. These transport providers are all feedback rated (much like eBay) so the consumer gets a good idea of the level of service to be expected as well as a great price, saving users of our site over 3million since launch in June 2008. By making use of haulage firms spare capacity, Shiply.com helps the consumer save up to 75% on costs, the environment by keeping lorries full and reducing congestion and increases the efficiency and profits of haulier’s themselves especially important in these tough economic times and with high fuel prices.

Ross Fobian & Richard Hamnett (AdInsight Limited), Manchester
AdInsight allows businesses to track phone call conversions back to their original online or offline source. This allows businesses to identify exactly which advertisements are driving sales and which are simply not worth the marketing investment; helping them save money and increase profitability at the same time. AdInsight is the only call tracking solution in the UK that can track the entire journey of a customer from the initial source, to the sale, was the first UK company to integrate call tracking with Google Analytics and can now be integrated with any online analytics solution, as well as any other online platforms, like CRM’s, CMS and email systems.

Sam Rickett (Everlution Software Limited), London
Everlution Software specialises in complex software development projects, particularly large database-driven web applications. They design, develop, market and sell their own products, Vivomiles – a national school rewards system similar to Nectar points / AirMiles which replaces merit slips/gold stars with a modern web/mobile banking interface, and Street Consensus – a central database for Investor Relations information, replacing the inefficient practice of emailing spreadsheets.

Simon Darker & Harry Hunter (Think Pacific), Leeds
Think Pacific lead five-week and three-month guided expeditions to the outer islands of Fiji. Their expeditions involve teams of 18 ‘community tourists’ who assist with local building, youth and sports development projects, before sailing castaway islands, trekking jungle rainforests and rafting river canyons.

The presentations are on October 27th and I’ll keep you all up to date with the latest news here and on Twitter. If you want to find out more about the awards check out Shell Livewire here.