News and Events

BU Graduate Takes South West Shell Livewire Award

21 May 2007

BU graduate and top South West Young Entrepreneur, Simon Phelps

BU graduate Simon Phelps is the top Young Entrepreneur in the South West after winning the regional final of Shell Livewire competition for 2007.

Simon, who graduated from BU in 2004 with a BSc (Hons) in Computer Aided Design, outshone other young entrepreneurs from the South West with his company Fluival Innovations.

His central product is an amazing flood barrier, so light that it can be assembled in no time by just one person – an end to sandbags.

As a regional finalist in the Shell Livewire competition, Simon has already won prize money of £3,500. He’s now aiming for the national prize, to be announced on Wednesday 13 June.

Commenting on his success, Simon said: “Winning this Shell Livewire Award is a great boost for my business and will hopefully help it to grow even further.

"I’m looking forward to the National Final in June, where I’ll be up against top young entrepreneurs from all over the UK.”

“I am very pleased to be part of the Shell Livewire event,” says Simon. “I owe it to all the people and organisations in the South West who have helped me to get this far, including Bournemouth University, Business Link and the South West Regional Development Agency, as well as the many local businessmen and women who have gone out of their way to offer me advice.”

Simon is on secondment in the US until the end of June as one of just 15 Entrepreneurship Fellows selected by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) and the US-based Ewing Kauffman Foundation.

His visit features interaction with leading scholars and thinkers, policy leaders, innovative researchers, and business founders to develop commercial know-how and potential new business contacts.

Simon is also visit leading universities including Harvard before completing a three-month internship with SoftVu, LLC, a leading provider of online sales and marketing communication solutions headquartered near Kansas City.

When he returns from the US, Simon plans to combine his experience as an Enterprise Fellow with the £11,000 he received through a DTi Smart Award to continue developing his start-up company.