Lord Young and Sir Terry Leahy drive the search for Britain’s Business Champions

6 June 2013 – Fifty of the UK’s most exciting fast-growth businesses have been unveiled as members of the ACCELERATE 250, the group of business leaders being championed by Lord Young and Sir Terry Leahy.

The ACCELERATE 250 represents the core of Britain’s “vital six per-cent”, the businesses that are expanding exponentially to create more than half of all new UK jobs. The group will meet for the first time at ACCELERATE 2013, Britain’s flagship festival for high-potential businesses, in Liverpool on 27^th June.

With just three weeks to go until ACCELERATE 2013 and anticipation for the festival growing, organisers Liverpool Vision have been revealing members of the group at a rate of 50 a week.

A full-day event featuring world-class speakers, ACCELERATE 2013 will see more than 1,000 delegates descend on Liverpool for a festival like no other.

From Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Martha Lane Fox, chair of Lucky Voice, to the Independent Economic Advisor to the European Commission, Philippe Legrain and former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick, ACCELERATE 2013 presents the world’s brightest business minds, economists and inspirational speakers for a “one-day MBA”.

With speeches and panel discussions, as well as tips and valuable insight, ACCELERATE 2013 will help Britain’s entrepreneurs catapult their businesses to the next level.

The ACCELERATE 250 come from across the UK, representing industries ranging from food to fashion, pharmaceuticals to finance, and retail to recruitment. The group will be working closely with one another to address the key issues and shared challenges that face all growing businesses, meeting for a series of interactive discussions and debates.

Martha Lane Fox, chair of Lucky Voice, MakieLab and Go on UK, and ACCELERATE speaker said:  “ACCELERATE 2013 is a fantastic opportunity for Britain’s business community to showcase the best this country has to offer.

“The UK is a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent and helping our smallest businesses scale up quickly and grow would transform the British economy. ACCELERATE 2013 will raise the aspirations and confidence of these businesses and give them the tools they need to grow, ensuring that every business gets the chance to achieve its full potential.

Richard Corbett, founder of Eyetease Media and ACCELERATE 250 member, said: “We are delighted that Eyetease has been nominated as one of the UK’s fastest growing companies.

“ACCELERATE 2013 is a fantastic initiative and we are really proud to join the other ACCELERATE 250 members in Liverpool to celebrate high-growth business.

“Eyetease has launched the world’s first digital broadcast media format for taxis, named iTaxitop, and more recently the first high speed WiFi system for taxis using an innovative ads-for-access model, named CabWifi.

“Our mission is to develop disruptive digital media propositions and become one of the global leaders in this field. I’m also proud to say we’re British and we manufacture our technology in Britain! To be recognised by Lord Young and Sir Terry Leahy as one of the top companies for growth is a great achievement for us.”

“There is a fantastic line-up of speakers and we are really looking forward to participating in the discussions and sessions for what promises to be a brilliant day for inspiring business growth in the UK.”

Guy McConnell, Co-founder of Concept Cupboard, said: “ACCELERATE 2013 is exactly what Britain’s start-up community needs.

“With a truly outstanding lineup, this is going to be a world-class event that inspires businesses to take the next step and helping to secure the UK’s economic recovery.”

ACCELERATE 250 – THE THIRD FIFTY:

• 3 Blonde Bears
• 5 point plus
• A-Star Sports
• AES International
• Affectv
• Age Partnership
• Armadillo Merino
• Badger Office Supplies
• Blippar
• Block Solutions
• Blue Group
• Captify
• Charbrew
• Concept Cupboard
• CoSkill
• Cube 19
• CubeSocial
• Elephant Branded
• Ella’s Kitchen
• Enterprise Lab
• Epistem
• Eyetease Media
• Ffrees
• Find, Invest, Grow (FIG)
• FootFall 123
• Funding Options
• FusePump
• Huddle
• Kids Bee Happy
• Left Bank Pictures
• Lingo24
• Livebookings
• Liz Hobbs Group
• Magic Whiteboard
• Mando Group Ltd
• Meals From Scratch
• Medstrom
• Menkind
• myParceldelivery.com
• Nutmeg
• People per Hour
• Purple Seven
• Quill
• Screach
• Secret Escapes
• Secured Mail
• Uniform
• We Are Social
• Widget UK
• Zaini