Regional winners named in Federation of Small Businesses Small Business Awards

A young entrepreneur who started his gardening business at the age of 16 has been named the South West's Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Federation of Small Businesses.

Alfie Jones, who is now 18, set up The Backyard Barber in Royal Wootton Bassett when his GCSE exams were cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020.

“Winning this award sets in stone that maybe I am doing something right and I’m not just a boy mowing lawns," he said. "

It's great that other professionals have had a look at what I do and can see that I'm getting somewhere."

The FSB South West Small Business Awards final, held at Weston-Super-Mare, recognised winners from Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall.

The FSB’s South West Regional Chairman, Lee Nathan, said that even making the shortlist was very creditable due to the quality and quantity of this year’s entry.

“We were delighted to discover that we had a record amount of entries this year with so many small businesses telling us of their triumph against all the odds. I know that the judges found even getting down to a shortlist was a major headache - let alone trying to pick a category winner.

“What this all says, I think, is what we all probably knew – the South West is an absolute hotbed of entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and small business expertise," he said.

The full list for the South West area ‘FSB Celebrating Small Business Award’ winners for 2022 is:

Business & Product Innovation Award
One Big Circle Ltd (Bristol )

Family Business of the Year
Cofton Holidays (Nr Dawlish, Devon)

International Business of the Year
Rockit (N2M Ltd) (Bristol)

Environmental/Sustainability Award
ARCO2 Architecture Ltd (Bodmin, Cornwall)

Start-up Business of the Year
Little Adventures Nursery (Worle, Somerset)

Digital/e-Commerce Business of the Year
Padpilot Ltd (Gloucester, Gloucestershire)

Micro Business of the Year
Haven Timber Holdings (Bath)

Self-employed/Sole Trader of the Year
Re Legal Consulting Limited, Rebecca Seeley Harris (Topsham, Devon)

High Growth Business of the Year
Car Connect Bristol (Bristol)

Wellbeing Award of the Year
Beyond Retail (Bournemouth, Dorset)

Community Award
Pappadoms Indian Takeaway (Weston-super-Mare, Somerset )

Young Entrepreneur of the Year (under 30 years of age)
Alfie Jones, the Backyard Barber RWB Ltd (Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire)

The South West final is one of a number of regional finals place across the UK with all of the winners now being invited to take part in the national FSB final in Glasgow in May.