Posted on 10 Jan 2012
The ICG PR team started the New Year with the launch of The Mall Blackburn's annual business competition The Retail Factor.
It gives budding retail businesses in the North West a fantastic opportunity to take their plans to the next level with a £10,000 prize package including two month's rent-free space and £500 towards stock.
Entrants can submit ideas until Sunday 12th February and management at The Mall will select a shortlist of entries to trial their businesses on an RMU (Retail Merchandising Unit) in The Mall Blackburn.
The judges will look at how innovative each business has been as well as taking into account trading results to select an overall winner.
The successful entrepreneur will then be entered into the national final against competitors from eight other Malls across the UK to be in with a chance of winning a place on the exclusive retail business course BHF-BSSA Oxford Summer School.
Last year's national champion, Sophia Patel, was our local entrant and she is now running a very successful Cupcakes and Cookies business in Blackburn Market in the lower level of The Mall.
Since the launch in the first week of January the coverage has been rolling in with the Lancashire Telegraph using the story as its business page lead and websites such as Blackburn with Darwen Council and the Lancashire Consortium of Enterprise Agencies uploading it to their news sections.
