The graduate entrepreneurs behind Bristol-based specialist travel company Much Better Adventures are celebrating becoming inaugural winners at the 2015 Making Business Happen Awards.
Much Better Adventures, based in Stokes Croft, beat competition from businesses from across the UK to claim the £12,500 first prize in the SME Business Growth category.
They have also qualified for a 12-month package of business support from award partners including NatWest, Santander and the University of South Wales Business School.
Much Better Adventures was set up by university graduates and adventure travel enthusiasts Sam Bruce, Alex Narrowcott and Guy Bowden and started trading in 2010. In year one the three ‘bootstrapped’ the business from an old ski chalet in the Alps but by the end of their first full season, more than 24,000 people had used the website to ‘bid’ for a chalet-based ski holiday. Three years on and the team has generated more than £6m in adventure holiday sales and is currently looking at ways to expand the business.
The Making Business Happen Awards were devised and organised by The University of South Wales to recognise graduates of UK universities who have gone on to start their own successful and growing businesses using the skills and knowledge gained while studying.
A special award for Aspiring Entrepreneurs recognised students from schools and colleges across the UK who have demonstrated a commitment to researching and developing an effective or innovative business idea.
University of South Wales vice-chancellor Professor Julie Lydon OBE said: “We have been amazed by the number and quality of entries received for the Awards. Our finalists represent some truly extraordinary and innovative ideas, developed by passionate people from across the UK. Attributes which both exemplify the Making Business Happen Awards and the ethos of the University of South Wales.
“My congratulations go not just to the winners, but to all those excellent companies and individuals, who left our judges with such difficult choices to make. I wish them all the best for the future and look forward to seeing how they develop.”
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Much Better Adventures co-founder Sam Bruce said: “It has been a fantastic experience and this award is going to allow us to create another job in our business, which really sums up what it is all about.
“From a personal perspective, I came out of university and started the business straight away so to anyone in the room who is thinking about doing the same thing, I’d say just do it. It’s definitely not the easy route but it is massively rewarding.”
Pictured, from left: Paul Brooks, business development director – Wales, Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking, with Much Better Adventures founders Alex Narracott and Sam Bruce
