Fife business shortlisted for UK StartUp Award 2024

29/03/2024
WildStrong is an outdoor movement company specialising in movement skills we all need as we age

KINGSBARNS-based startup WildStrong has been named a finalist ahead of the Scotland final of the StartUp Awards.

The UK StartUp Awards was launched to recognise the booming start-up scene across the UK which has accelerated over the last few years with over 900,000 new businesses founded in the UK in 2023, a 12% increase from the year before.

Over 900 businesses have been shortlisted for this year’s UK StartUp Awards and the contribution of these firms – all of which were started in the last three years – is significant, having created nearly 6,000 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of £480 million.

WildStrong is an outdoor movement company specialising in movement skills we all need as we age, founded by Gill Erskine in 2021. The business has been nominated for both the Education & Training and the Rural StartUp of the Year Award in Scotland.

Gill Erskine, founder of WildStrong, said: “We are really proud of this nomination – particularly for the Education and Training category. We have worked really hard to create and refine our Level 1 course, and it’s such a huge pleasure to deliver it and help students understand more about how our bodies work, how to think more critically about movement, about how movement can be used as a hook for social connection and connection to nature, to hear the questions and the discussions emerge and to see the friendships made.”

Supported nationally by ScoreApp, GS1 UK, Starling Bank, OVHcloud, GiftRound, Airwallex, the programme will celebrate the achievements of the amazing individuals who have turned an idea into an opportunity and taken the risk to launch a new product or service.

The cohort of finalists will be considered for the regional prizes by a panel of seasoned judges with experience founding or supporting entrepreneurial ventures. The winners from each region will then be invited to the first UK final taking place at Ideas Fest, the Glastonbury for Business festival in Tring, Hertfordshire on 12th September 2024.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, the creator of the UK StartUp Awards, said: 

“Start-up businesses are the lifeblood of any economy, being responsible for new jobs, innovation and wealth creation across the UK. All the finalists this year represent the best of those entrepreneurs who have spotted an opportunity and through their sheer hard work, talent and perseverance, have created amazing new businesses that are creating real impact in their sectors. Building on the success of previous years, we are now looking to identify the ‘best of the best’ with all the finalists who win their category in their region going on to represent their region at the first ever UK National StartUp Awards final later this year”.

The UK StartUp Awards was created in collaboration with the team behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, one of the most successful awards programmes in the UK. The UK StartUp Awards are running for the third year after launching in 2022. 

This year’s regional UK StartUp Awards finalists can be found online at https://startupawards.uk/

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