Meet the winners of the Creative Enterprise Awards 2022
- Written byCareers and Employability
- Published date 13 July 2022
On July 7, UAL’s Careers and Employability team hosted the Creative Enterprise Awards at Chelsea College of Arts. The awards recognise students and graduates who have flourished in their professional life, starting businesses, organisations and freelancing careers. This year the awards were hosted by comedian and UAL Alumni Kemah Bob, with sponsorship from The Dots, Natwest, MTArt, Becky Artmonsky, Cockpit and Miro.
The awards started with a presentation from one of last year’s winners, Blackmarket Refill, who also now have their products stocked in not just a shop. Martina Schwarz gave advice to the nominees to be determined and to be flexible, sharing the story of how she applied for the awards in 2020 and didn’t even get shortlisted, only to come back the following year and win.
Winners of the awards receive seed funding of up to £5000 to invest in their business as well as a package of tailored support from the sponsors. Let’s meet this year’s winners…
Freelancer and Service, partnered with The Dots
Joseph Ijoyemi, Central Saint Martins
The Collective Makers champions more diversity in the art sector by providing opportunities and platforms to emerging artists to connect, collaborate and inspire, and through mentoring artists from BAME backgrounds.
“I’m very very proud, for the organisation and also for the team who have worked tirelessly. It’s amazing, it’s our first award so we’re super gassed!”
The runner up for this category was Alexandra Hochgürtel and Paula Pfitzner with The Filthy Fox Auction Club - An offline and online auction service that sells the artwork of London’s art graduates to kickstart their careers.
International, partnered with MTArt
Johana Kasalicka, London College of Fashion
Novy Zine is the first independent publication implementing an augmented reality experience, dedicated to showcasing the new, the alternative, and the progressive talents from the Czech cultural scene.
“I was competing as an individual but I have to mention that we have a big team. And I feel really really happy, I didn’t expect it at all. Independent publications are not really a money-making business, but I’ve tried to make a business plan so it works, and this is a massive help for us, so we can jump on the production of the second issue and make it even better than the previous one."
And
Vishal Tolambia, London College of Fashion
Humanity Centered Designs Supports micro-small scale apparel manufacturing businesses in India to adopt sustainable practices and develops innovative new textiles to support a more circular economy.
“It feels incredible being awarded because when you are running an enterprise at the beginning, initial level, sometimes it takes patience and it’s a struggle, but these kinds of awards, these kinds of recognition give you the motivation, patience, and encouragement to keep leading the way. And obviously, the funding will help me to overcome some of the barriers that I was facing"
Climate and Environment, partnered with Becky Artmonsky
Cassie Quinn, Central Saint Martins
CQ studio is a regenerative design lab developing innovative textiles for fashion Making textiles from a range of biological sources including flax, food waste and algae.
“It feels so surreal at the moment but it also feels like such a journey because I started off in a pitch workshop and then a social enterprise programme award and now to progress to the Creative Enterprise Awards. It’s really exciting and I can’t wait, mainly for that support because over the last year it’s been me in my head trying to figure things out without anyone to turn to, and now with that support, it’s really going to be helpful. Being involved in all the different Careers and Employability opportunities is so helpful, even, for example, I was at a CV workshop, and that led to someone adding me on Linkedin, they saw what I was doing, and they now work for a big designer and wanted me to provide some of my materials to that designer, so all these small interactions can really build up to something you don’t realise in the future.”
The runner-up for this category was Filip Harding, rebox.eco - Making new boxes from old boxes helping brands send online retail deliveries more sustainably by capturing value in used materials and reducing waste.
Social and Community, partnered with Natwest
Isabel Conde, Chelsea College of Arts
Create on the Estate is A series of free art workshops for the children of Penmayne House and Landulph House in Lambeth.
“I’m really excited, it’s a project that I’ve been working on for a long time and put so much work into, and I’m just really excited to see where it’s going to go and the people it will reach”
The runner-up for this category was - Neha Matthew with haav - A social enterprise that collaborates with unemployed South Asian women in London to create unique home décor products by repurposing surplus fabrics.
Digital and Technology, partnered with Miro
Leonardo Zussner, London College of Communication
Bobbll.app is an app which gamifies the recruitment experience for the next generation of talent, connecting talent to early career opportunities.
“It feels amazing, I feel appreciated and it’s going to help us move forward with our business. It’s definitely going to help us to get to the next stage, we obviously are bootstrapping everything, and it’s gonna help us to gain more customers and gain more users”
The runners-up for this category were Joshua Davis with Mart - A social network to buy, sell & share art and access free art resources, and Moogz O’Donnell with unhacked - A cybersecurity subscription which protects customers when their email or social media accounts are hacked. Targeting online micro-businesses.
Maker and Product, partnered with Cockpit
Mariam Sesay, London College of Communication
My Hapii is A gender-neutral black hair and skin care brand dedicated to zero waste and clean beauty.
“Honestly, I feel speechless, this feels like an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait to help the community that I’m targeting, and I’m just so happy to have this opportunity.”
The runners-up for this category were Dani Chukwuezi with DeeCee Archive - Who creates original tufted rugs which represent stories of Home and the post-colonial condition and Eleanor Pipe with Fluid - A sustainable, size-inclusive, slow fashion brand creating a safe space to let customers feel comfortable and proud in their changing body and identity
If you’re thinking of applying for next year’s awards, get involved with our summer event series Starting Out, and sign up for our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss the application deadline.