Business awards success for Nottingham graduate and entrepreneur

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A tech start-up founded by a Nottingham University Business School alumnus and entrepreneur has a bright future ahead, according to judges at a prestigious regional business awards.

Aware Monitoring, one of the UK’s fastest-growing website performance monitoring companies, picked up the Most Promising New Business accolade at the recent Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce Best Business Awards 2011.

The company, set up by Nottingham graduate Nick Barker and co-founder Simon Oxley, was recognised for its innovative service, providing businesses with real-time updates on the content load time, availability and optimisation of their website.

Aware Monitoring fought off competition from two other strong contenders, A Star Media, a film production company specialising in corporate videos for the web, and The Elm Tree at Elmton, a public house which focuses on fresh local food.

Nick said: “This is wonderful news for the company and we are delighted, especially since the category was sponsored and judged by Experian, a data-driven company that knows IT and the technology market. It’s a ringing endorsement that they saw huge potential for our service.”

Aware Monitoring is a tangible demonstration of its founders’ solid credentials in enterprise. Nick was among the first cohort to study on Nottingham University Business School’s MBA in Entrepreneurship, a programme which aims to provide students with a well-rounded education in management while promoting entrepreneurial creativity and skills development. He has since returned to his alma mater as guest lecturer on the University’s entrepreneurship courses.

In the company’s early days, Nick received support from Nottingham University Business School’s EnterpriseLab, which aims to provide guidance on business development to students setting up their own ventures, as well as practical assistance in the form of seminars and networking opportunities, access to office space and meeting rooms and one-to-one surgeries with professional advisors.

Nick continued, “The support we have received from the University and the EnterpriseLab has been invaluable. It has been a great help to be able to access world-class facilities and resources as well as to have the backing of a network that is keen to assist us in establishing and promoting the business.”

Aware Monitoring now operates out of the Sir Colin Campbell Building on The University of Nottingham Innovation Park, which offers business incubator facilities to new start-ups and innovation-led companies.

Dan Edge, EnterpriseLab Coordinator at Nottingham University Business School, said: “We’re delighted for Nick and Simon and it’s fantastic to see a company which received support from the EnterpriseLab at the very beginning of their journey receive the recognition that this award provides.

“We hope their achievements can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs from Nottingham.”

Aware Monitoring was also a finalist in another category of the awards, Innovation through Technology, which went to Uppercut Productions Ltd for its specialist remote aerial video and photography service it provides using miniature, GPS-guided HeliCam drones.

This latest recognition for Aware Monitoring follows success last year in winning New Enterprise of the Year at the Nottingham Post Business Awards. It is also a finalist in the UK IT awards organised by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, in the UK Innovation and Entrepreneurship category, the results of which will be announced in November.