Isle of Wight based ‘The Mobile Vet’ has beaten off stiff competition from around the UK to be named the Best B2C (Business to Consumer) Start-Up at the inaugural Ready for Business Awards 2013.
Ready for Business, the investment readiness start-up programme that supports new enterprises across England, has delivered more than 2,500 new jobs nationwide since its launch last summer. The programme aims to create 6,000 businesses with 10,000 new jobs, is supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and Barclays and is delivered by the Cavendish Consortium, a partnership between some of England’s leading enterprise agencies together with the National Enterprise Network; in the South East region, Ready for Business is provided by Enterprise First through a network of local agencies.
The national finals, which were held at the House of Commons in London, saw the 22 start-up businesses from throughout England that had previously triumphed at regional level gather to compete for one of three prestigious titles.
The Mobile Vet was launched in May 2013 by Isle of Wight local boy Dan Forster and offers all the traditional services of a regular vet but with the convenience of mobile care. Since launching earlier this year, The Mobile Vet has treated patients from across the Isle of Wight and allowed members of the community who may have been unable to take their pets to the vets for years due to illness or elderly related conditions access valuable care for their animals.
It has also reactivated many dormant patients who had not visited a centre for many years and had fallen behind on important courses of vaccinations or have opted not to visit a vet because their pets where considered too nervous or potentially aggressive and has also been invaluable for busy families and households with multiple pets.
The judging panel – which was facilitated by Kevin Horne, chairman of the Cavendish Consortium –featured David Hitchcock of Barclays, Amanda Hurford from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Titus Sharpe, chief executive of MVF Global and winner of the Sunday Times Tech Track 2013. They selected The Mobile Vet as the winner due to its innovative approach whilst still offering all the traditional veterinary services its customers require.
Dan Forster of The Mobile Vet said:
“We are truly delighted to have our achievements recognised with such a prestigious accolade so soon after launching The Mobile Vet. The help we received to get started and the on-going support available to us has made it possible to develop our idea into a thriving business operation and we now look forward to pushing ahead with our plans for the future.”
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Graham Cooper, Isle of Wight based area business manager for Barclays said:
“This is a real accolade for the Island, the fact that an Island business has won this national award shows the entrepreneurial spirit that is embedded in the business people here. SMEs are the life blood of the economy and it’s great to see a new business idea thriving and providing a much valued service as well as creating jobs.”
