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BU bestows Entrepreneurial award

26 November 2008

Mark Cribb (centre), with Lee Cooper from IoD (left) and BU's Professor Nick Petford (right)

BU has selected local businessman Mark Cribb as winner of the Dorset Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Dorset Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award, jointly sponsored by Bournemouth University and the Institute of Directors (IoD), has been awarded to Mark Cribb, owner of Boscombe’s Urban Beach Hotel & Bistro.

Urban Beach is a 12-bedroom boutique hotel, bar and bistro, located 500 metres from the beach and Boscombe pier.

Cribb, who purchased the run-down B&B in 2006, worked in excess of 100 hours per week for two years in order to raise the funds to transform Urban Beach into what it is today – a successful business which employs up to 30 local people and is on target to turn over £1.2M.

This dedicated work ethic, and the fair and ethical fashion in which the business is run, helped our independent judges as well as our judges from BU’s Centre for Research & Enterprise and the IoD, to select Cribb as the winner.

Accepting the award, Cribb said: “[The award] recognises the hard work and dedication that has been put into establishing Urban Beach and helps towards raising the profile of our establishment.”

The runners up were owners of independent chocolate makers Chococo, Claire and Andy Burnet, and Liz Willingham and her team of Liz Lean PR.

Cribb also won a one year’s membership to the IoD.

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