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Entrepreneurs can get £1,000 aid

Jan 12 2009

Entrepreneurs can bid for £1,000 to get their business off the ground, in a cash-reward scheme from Shell.

The LiveWIRE programme awards a monthly prize of £1,000 to 16 to 30-year-olds looking to turn their company idea into a reality.

Shell has made £70,000 available to be awarded this year, equating to £60,000 in monthly prizes and £10,000 for the winner of its annual Young Entrepreneur of the Year contest.

The scheme, which is run in 20 countries, has also recently revamped its website to allow fellow entrepreneurs to contact each other and help build up their business.

Jamie Murray-Wells, a previous winner of the award and founder of Glasses Direct, says: 'It's a tough economic climate, but that shouldn't put off entrepreneurs with sound business ideas being brave and going out on their own. Many successful companies like Apple and Microsoft actually started in economic downturns.'

Shell's UK chairman James Smith states the scheme has been running for 26 years and has seen a 'tremendous amount of entrepreneurial talent' emerge in this time.

LiveWIRE also offers workshops for entrepreneurs, giving them advice on how to run a company.

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