Three inspiring handicapped entrepreneurs were awarded 300,000 GBP by Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-I-I-INONOU in the 17th annual Stelios Prize for disabled entrepreneurs who celebrate innovations, resilience and effects throughout the British business.
The main prize of £ 150,000 went to Umbree David, founder of HoaaaMa Group LTD and owner of Idnar Manor Nursing Home in Kent. The house has transformed the vision of redefining compassionate care, which was informed by their own experience with muscular dystrophy and hearing loss, into a model of integrative and worthy older care. It plans to invest upgrades, management development and a mentoring platform for disabled entrepreneurs in the nursing sector in accessibility.
Michelle Phillips, the power plant behind Edinburgh’s popular mimis Bakehouse, took second place and £ 100,000. Michelle diagnoses multiple sclerosis after the company was founded and has grown to a national bakery brand with five shops, two concessions and a flourishing online delivery service. Their price supports the repetition of the website, the expansion of the product range and the opening of export options.
Paul Woods, founder of Proactive Despatch, took the third prize of £ 50,000. Paul lived with cerebral palsy and was underestimated for years when he was launched a courier company, which now sets the standard for reliable service in northwest. He will use the price to set up his sales team and expand the company’s reach.
This year’s awards that took place in the headquarters of the Stelios Foundation in South Kensington was a record of 125 applicants in the 17-year history of the initiative. Since its foundation in 2007, the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, in cooperation with the charity organization of Disability Leonard Cheshire, has awarded more than 1.7 million GBP to disabled entrepreneurs in Great Britain.
Sir Stelios said: “We know how difficult it can be for disabled people to get a job. So I always believed that their best option is to become their own boss.
The awards are more than a money subsidy – they are a vote of trust in people who overcome social and systemic obstacles to the management of flourishing companies. With the support of Leonard Cheshire and the private philanthropy, they continue to shed light on a new generation of guides, which changes what is possible in British business.