Two outstanding young entrepreneurs at Leicester College have won the 2014 Freeths Sponsorship Award for their business ideas.

Aaron Holder and Mtchell Underwood, winners of the Freeths Awards 2014

The judging panel awarded £5,000 to Aaron Holder and Mitchel Underwood, both Foundation Degree Creative Sound Technology learners.

Their fresh and honest pitch, backed by their informative presentation on how to create pure sound showcased their business idea – Cult Audio, sold itself to the judging panel.

The event took place on Wednesday 9 July 2014 at the St Margaret’s Campus.

Both Aaron and Mitchel were delighted to have won.

On winning Aaron commented: “We’re over the moon to get the funds to help kick-start our business. It feels great to have won, but pitching to the judges was a nerve-wracking experience.”

Mitchell added: “We put a lot of energy and resources into our business plan and we have both been working on this for a while now. This money is essential for us to buy our equipment and we are very lucky to get this far. This investment means a lot to us and we are both very grateful.”

The competition was open to all learners studying at Leicester College, who were asked to submit a proposal detailing how they would utilise the sponsorship money to develop their business idea. Entrants were whittled down to five finalists who presented their ideas to the ‘dragon’s den style’ panel of representatives from Leicester College and Freeths Solicitors.

Mukesh Patel and Simon Baigent, Partners at Leicester Freeths LLP said: We were very impressed with the quality and diversity of the applications, clearly all the applicants had put in a great deal of time and effort into their respective submissions.

“It was a difficult decision to decide upon one overall winner, but all the judges considered that Cult Audio would benefit the most from the prize.  We wish all the finalists well for the future and are sure they will undoubtedly go on to be successful.”

They were joined on the judging panel by Dr Don Brooks, Deputy Principal Curriculum and Quality and Sue Horner, Head of Marketing Sales and Marketing at Leicester College.

Don said: ““All the finalists have demonstrated brilliant business plans but sadly there can only be one winner. I would like to thank them all for taking part today.”