Chiswick Crafting Kit Manufacturer Makes Start Up Awards Final
OurHands nominated in consumer products category
Scott MacDonald and Justine Souabe of Our Hands
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April 6, 2024
A Chiswick-based business that makes mindful crafting kits has been named as a finalist in the London leg of the UK StartUp Awards.
OurHands was founded by friends Scott MacDonald and Justine Souabe in 2022. Its products range from Perfume Blending to Coffee Roasting kits and aim to be unique and highly giftable. The business has been nominated for the Consumer Products StartUp of the Year Award in London.
Justine said, “This nomination is both incredibly encouraging and extremely humbling, and we would like to thank the StartUp Award committee for this opportunity. Not only does this nomination feel like an acknowledgement of our hard work, but it also feels like it highlights the growing importance of mindfulness and creativity in today’s fast-paced world. From the start, our three core values have remained unchanged: sustainability, mindfulness, and artisanship. We are very grateful to the StartUp Awards team for understanding our philosophy, as well as to everyone who has ever bought a kit for making our vision come true a little more each day. ”
The UK StartUp Awards was launched in 2022 to recognise the booming start-up scene across the UK which has accelerated over the last few years with over 900,000 new businesses founded in the UK in 2023, a 12% increase from the year before.
Over 900 businesses have been shortlisted for this year’s UK StartUp Awards and the contribution of these firms - all of which were started in the last three years - is significant, having created nearly 6,000 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of £480 million.
Supported nationally by ScoreApp, GS1 UK, Starling Bank, OVHcloud, GiftRound, Airwallex, the programme will celebrate the achievements of those who have turned an idea into an opportunity and taken the risk to launch a new product or service.
The finalists will be considered for the regional prizes by a panel of judges with experience in founding or supporting entrepreneurial ventures. The winners from each region will then be invited to the first UK final taking place at Ideas Fest, the Glastonbury for Business festival in Tring, Hertfordshire on 12 September 2024.
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, the creator of the UK StartUp Awards, said, “Start-up businesses are the lifeblood of any economy, being responsible for new jobs, innovation and wealth creation across the UK. All the finalists this year represent the best of those entrepreneurs who have spotted an opportunity and through their sheer hard work, talent and perseverance, have created amazing new businesses that are creating real impact in their sectors. Building on the success of previous years, we are now looking to identify the ‘best of the best’ with all the finalists who win their category in their region going on to represent their region at the first ever UK National StartUp Awards final later this year”.
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