Sage Small Business XI: Meet the winners

Earlier this year, Enterprise Nation partner, Sage ran its Small Business XI Competition for the second time running, giving away £50,000 in business grants to 10 small businesses across the UK.

Sage is the Official Insights Partner of the Hundred, a competition that sees men and women playing side-by-side on the same stage, with equal prize money on offer.

Alongside a £5,000 grant to help with their growth, the winners also received tickets for the final match of The Hundred cricket competition, as well as free subscriptions to Sage accounting and payroll software.

Here, we meet the 10 winning businesses and find out how they plan to use the grant money and other prizes to boost their operations.

The competition winners 

Bow Creative, Cambridge

Founder: Rachel Bow

What does your business do?

Bow Creative is a digital design and marketing partner for entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses. By helping businesses to launch and thrive, we contribute not only to the community's economic growth, but our clients' growth and success too.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

As a solo entrepreneur and single mother, I entered the competition to help grow the business's visibility. The grant will allow me to streamline our processes, make our services more efficient and effective, and invest in marketing to ensure a steady flow of clients.

How did you react to winning the grant?

Winning this competition is a lifeline for me. Balancing the challenges of starting a business while raising a family is a challenge, but this win validates my hard work.

I now feel motivated to achieve my vision and support other small businesses in doing so. I'm honoured to be recognised by Sage, and winning provides a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs, expand my reach and grow Bow Creative.

Digital Directive, Poole

Founder: Neil Morecraft

What does your business do?

Digital Directive helps people make the transition from employee to self-employed, employer and beyond. Through our range of small business solutions, we support business owners with using technology to streamline their processes and focus more on the things they're great at.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

I wanted to consciously start building better relationships with other like-minded business professionals, and better serve our growing community of start-up business owners. To this end, I'll use the Sage grant for marketing and product development.

How did you react to winning the grant?

It feels wonderful. Winning means I can now invest in new technologies and upgrade my accounting system to one that that will help me make better informed decisions to help me forecast my finances with confidence. 

Dolly Shop, Bristol

Director: Samantha Shaw

What does the business do?

Dolly Shop makes children's soft toys, clothing and accessories, as well as supporting and developing young talent in our local community.

Our team work hard to ensure young people are able to find employment and learn valuable textile skills such as tailoring and garment-making.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

I thought it was a good chance to engage with organisations that can help my business grow and navigate the ever-changing small business landscape.

How did you react to winning the grant?

Being recognised by Sage in this competition is a great honour, especially during our growth phase.

We're committed to shaping the future of business by prioritising employee satisfaction and creating a safe work environment.

This investment will go a long way in helping us grow, developing our marketing strategy, and continuing to support junior members of our workforce in their development.

Ekó Botanicals, Portsmouth

Founder: Apinke Efiong

What does your business do?

Ekó Botanicals is a holistic, sustainable skincare and wellness range rooted in traditional African and British botanical wisdom. Our range includes natural products that combine ancient rituals with modern science.

We launched in 2022 when I was grappling with turning 40 and facing a new set of skin and health concerns. The business helps fill a gap in the market for high-performing wellness and skincare solutions for women in their mid-life.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

The grant prize would help us advance our current analytics software and marketing and improve our decision-making capabilities as a business.

How did you react to winning the grant?

It feels incredibly rewarding and invigorating, and comes at a crucial time for the business.

Winning has provided an immense boost to morale, reinforcing the value of our hard work and determination. The resources Sage provides are invaluable, positioning us for greater success and future growth. It's an honour to be recognised among such a distinguished group of innovative entrepreneurs.

Gru Languages, Hailsham

Owner: Sarah Walker

What does your business do?

Gru Languages is an education platform dedicated to making English language learning engaging and effective for children. We've crafted our games and resources to foster communication, creativity and a love for learning, to give children the tools they need to build their language skills through play and exploration.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

I entered so I could showcase the team's passion for innovative teaching methods and to secure funding that would allow us to support more educators and students.

We'll use the £5,000 grant to invest in new marketing strategies to reach a wider audience and expand our resource library to include more languages.

As a result, we'll be able to provide even more comprehensive support to our community, making high-quality language learning accessible to more children and educators around the world.

How did you react to winning the grant?

Winning has been a brilliant confidence boost. The grant will help us to continue to support both teachers and students, and pursue our goal of positively impacting the educational community.

Not only this, but it’s amazing to be part of a new community of like-minded entrepreneurs who are all working towards making a positive difference in the world. We're excited to learn, grow and share this journey with Sage and our fellow team members.

Know Your Dosh, Slough

Founder: Varun Aggarwal

What does your business do?

Know Your Dosh helps simplify financial management for families. Our intuitive dashboard allows families to track and share their financial information all in one place, so they always have a comprehensive financial picture at their fingertips.

By making financial discussions less awkward and more productive, we're helping families in our community to build stronger and more secure financial futures.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

It was an effective way to demonstrate our commitment to transforming family finance management, gain recognition in the fintech space and connect with other like-minded small businesses.

We'll be investing the grant money to make improvements to our platform, expand our reach and make a valuable impact on the families we serve.

How did you react to winning the grant?

Winning the competition is an incredible honour and a significant milestone for the company. It validates our team's hard work and dedication and reinforces our mission to make financial management accessible and straightforward for families.

This recognition from Sage helps to highlight the impact we're making in our community and gives us the resources and motivation to continue innovating and expanding our services.

Pollen Careers, London

Founder: Sophie O’Brien

What does your business do?

Pollen Careers is an entry-level careers platform on a mission to empower jobseekers and champion SMEs to improve their hiring reach and equality.

Current hiring practices rely heavily on CV screening, which filters candidates based on basic metrics and has resulted in mass applications with little feedback. Pollen Careers was founded to address this cycle of bias and to pave the way for a more accessible approach to hiring.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

We have plans to reach more people in our rapidly growing community. The grant will help further develop our matchmaking technology and expand our team to meet the demand from jobseekers and employers. We want to continue to build Pollen Careers into a long-lasting business-for-good.

How did you react to winning the grant?

At Pollen, we’re trying to change traditional, long-term hiring attitudes and behaviours that often hold companies and candidates back. It's great to know that our hard work in recruitment has been recognised by people outside of our network of jobseekers and employers.

This recognition helps validates our mission and encourages us to continue working to make a difference.

Shuperb, Leicester

Co-founder: Sarfraz Ibrahim

What does your business do?

With roots dating back to 1984, Shuperb sells a wide range of footwear through our various sub-brands. We're committed to supporting the local community, which we do by inviting customers to visit and try on shoes and offering same-day delivery to people living in LE postcodes.

Because of this local-first approach, we're able to provide a truly personalised service and cater to the needs of the community.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

As a Sage customer, we jumped at the chance to enter the competition. Not only because we admire the software, but as avid sports fans we were also excited by Sage's partnership with The Hundred.

How did you react to winning the grant?

Winning this competition is a tremendous opportunity for us to share our story of perseverance and success. It recognises the hard work and unity of our brilliant team, motivating us to continue to strive for excellence.

This investment gives us a great boost and helps us look forward to a brighter future for our business. We're thrilled to work with Sage and can't wait to see how their support will help us improve our services.

TrackCarbon, London

Founder: Carla Jouavel

What does your business do?

TrackCarbon is a carbon emissions tracking and measurement company. We provide large-scale buyers with precise and granular data on the impact of their food products on the climate.

This allows them to track and quantify the climate impact of their purchases, and to provide consumers with information that can allow them to make sustainable food choices.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

The grant will allow the business to further develop our software's capabilities and to bring food buyers reliable and verifiable data that tells them how their purchases are affecting the planet.

How did you react to winning the grant?

I'm delighted to have won. Our aim as a business is to share useful data with our buyers about their carbon consumption, helping them make more informed decisions.

Twerk 'N' Jerk, London

Founder: Tyron Salih

What does your business do?

Twerk 'N' Jerk is a vibrant food business specialising in authentic Caribbean cuisine. By bringing the rich, diverse flavours of the Caribbean to our local community, we help build a sense of connection, while celebrating our heritage.

I firmly believe in investing in the community and source my ingredients locally to support local suppliers.

Why did you enter Sage's competition?

To help the business gain recognition for its dedication to delivering exceptional Caribbean cuisine. The competition also gave us an opportunity to improve our services, reach more people and have a greater impact in the local community.

The grant will allow us to upgrade our kitchen equipment and invest in new marketing.

How did you react to winning the grant?

The grant gives us the resources and visibility we need to grow and enhance our offerings. This recognition isn't just a win for us but for our entire community, as it highlights the value of cultural diversity and sustainable practices in the food industry.

To find out more about the role of Sage as the Official Insights Partner of the Hundred, and to learn more about future initiatives championing small businesses visit: sage.com/TheHundred