Our Great British Entrepreneur Challenge winners revealed

Written by Andy Yates for This is Money:

Ever since This is Money and successful entrepreneur and angel investor Andy Yates announced the Great British Entrepreneur Challenge, we have been on a mission to find business stars from all walks of life and corners of the country.

They were competing for the chance of an investment and mentoring from Andy, with This is Money following their stories. At the end of last year, we revealed the finalists. Now the results are in and we are proud to announce the winners.

At the very real risk of expounding a judging cliche – it is true to say it was incredibly tough to pick the winners, as the whole shortlist (and many of the other entrepreneurs who applied) really deserve help and support.

We can only wish all of them every success for the future and to congratulate them on already going further than so many others – by taking a risk and doing something about their passion – not just talking about it.

But today we announce the winners. They have all got there on merit, passion and hard work. It has already been an exciting journey – now it gets really interesting.

The hard work begins now to turn entrepreneurial dreams into reality. There is no guarantee of success, but we can guarantee the journey will continue to be exciting.

And This is Money readers will get to see every step of the way during 2018.

Winner of £50,000 investment from Andy Yates – plus ongoing mentoring and support

The mortgage market is broken and RateSwitch is trying to fix it.

Millions of mortgage customers are paying thousands of pounds a year more than they should. At the same time, switching mortgages remains a hassle.

RateSwitch’s free service takes advantage of the fact that you can easily switch to a deal from the same lender and allows homeowners to switch the same day and start saving money.

RateSwitch’s expert and independent team finds the best rate on offer for you from your current mortgage provider (which is often not published on the lender’s own website).

As part of their service they will also let you know about the best rates across the market – so you don’t miss out on a potentially even bigger saving.

Then, if you decide to simply shift to a better deal from your existing lender, they can sort out a quick and easy switch to save you money straight away – and that will be fee-free for you.

If there is a better deal elsewhere you decide to pursue then they can help you jump ship.

The key difference between this and other mortgage services is that it focusses on helping you get the best deal from your existing lender, meaning that you don’t need to worry about being fully reassessed financially, as you would if you moved elsewhere.

This is a huge help not just to those who want to save money quickly and easily, but also to those whose circumstances may have changed, such as having seen equity in their property fall – or have become self-employed since their last mortgage

Millions of homeowners don’t realize they can get a better mortgage rate even if their personal circumstances or jobs have changed.

Andy Yates’ investment will be put to good use on RateSwitch’s technology and team – to help RateSwitch customers save money more quickly and easily than ever before.

Andy Yates’ verdict: 

‘Having met and spoken to Lee Flavin, the Welsh entrepreneur behind RateSwitch, he has a real passion to help home owners. The words that come to my mind about Lee and the team are honest, open, hard-working, approachable, passionate and dedicated.’

‘In other words, I would not hesitate to use RateSwitch myself, and therefore I figured many other people will want to as well.’

‘I am passionate about helping Lee change the mortgage market for the better and make it so much easier for anyone to switch and save money. I am proud to back and help Lee and RateSwitch.’

RateSwitch’s Lee Flavin: 

‘Thank you This is Money and Andy Yates. This is a great competition and we’re delighted to have won.’

‘I originally entered for the chance to meet Andy because of what he had achieved with his own tech company and how he’s helped so many other start-ups.’

‘The money will now help us fund our technology and scale the business to reach as many homeowners as possible.’

‘I really enjoyed the pitching process and it was great to talk to people who really understood my business and what I want to achieve.’

Simon Lambert of This is Money: 

‘My first reaction to being told about a service that helped you switch mortgages with your own bank or building society, was why would you need that? After all, you could just contact the lender yourself.’

‘However, when Lee explained the concept, I realised why this works. RateSwitch’s mortgage advisers are much better set up to help you than the person on the end of the phone at the bank. They can track you down the best deal and get your mortgaged switched to save money quickly and easily.’

‘Lee has in-depth industry knowledge and displayed a real interest in his customers and building a long-term relationship with them’.

– 31st January 2018 –