The managing director of fast-growing Bristol-based R&D tax credit consultancy ForrestBrown, and app consultancy and developer Mubaloo are in the running for prestigious national entrepreneur awards.
Simon Brown, who founded the business in 2013, is shortlisted in the Duke of York New Entrepreneur of the Year category at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards. From a standing start, ForrestBrown now employs 21 people.
Mubaloo, which helps companies disrupt and improve operations through process re-engineering, automation and creating transformational business apps, is competing for the title of Lloyds Bank Digital Business of the Year.
Simon Brown and Mubaloo will compete against firms and individuals from a wide range of industries spanning recruitment to children’s clothing, pet food and online marketing. The size of the competing businesses also vary widely – from those turning over less than a million pounds to more than £25m and employing from 20 staff or 70,000-plus people.
Simon Brown said: “I am extremely pleased to have been nominated for this award – it is yet another milestone in the journey I’ve been on since deciding to start my own business.
“I consider my nomination as recognition of my entire team, whose hard work, great ideas and enthusiasm have helped get us to where we are now.
“I am incredibly proud of the fact that a seed of an idea two years ago has flourished so quickly. It still surprises me that in that time frame my team will have grown from just me to 21 qualified professional employees, meaning we can prepare more claims and help our innovative clients to grow.”
Mubaloo managing director Gemma Coles said: “Over the past year, we’ve seen the impact of digital and mobile transformation increase as awareness of the benefits have become clearer. Companies have confidence in mobile’s ability to disrupt their operations, save millions in costs, increase revenues and improve efficiencies.
“In the case of London’s Air Ambulance, mobile allows its team to get to critically injured patients quicker, by an average of two minutes. This relatively small increase has a big impact on the chance of saving someone who is critically ill or injured. It’s an honour to be a finalist in the National Business Awards for the second time.”
Finalists were chosen from the hundreds of businesses that entered or were nominated across 18 award categories.
They will now prepare for live presentations to expert judges. The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on November 10.
National Business Awards programme director Tom Broughton said: “The quality and range of this year’s entries exceed even those of last year, which is no mean feat.
“The draw of being involved with the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards has seen companies from all kinds of industries submit applications, which have been narrowed down using our thorough and comprehensive scoring system. We are now looking forward to the next step in the judging process and meeting some of the finalists face-to-face.”
ForrestBrown has worked with companies in almost every sector, helping them achieve significant corporation tax savings and reward investment in innovation.
Over the past six years, Mubaloo has created more than 240 apps with organisations worldwide including Aviva, Bang & Olufsen, Canon, Eircom, Hargreaves Lansdown, London’s Air Ambulance, The Met Office, EE, William Hill, Unite Students and Schroders. Mubaloo also partners with the likes of Cisco, IBM, EE and SAP as a custom mobile app developer and consultant.
In 2014, it was ranked third in the Deloitte Tech Fast 50 UK 2014 and 25th in EMEA. It was recognised as the Most Innovative Company 2014 by NEF: The Innovation Institute.
Pictured: ForrestBrown founder Simon Brown
