1. The Unipreneur Awards are open to new businesses, existing businesses and business ideas in development (‘Entrants’) where the applicant (‘Applicant’) who applies on behalf of the Entrant, satisfies the conditions below. Entrants must be based and regulated in the United Kingdom (‘UK’) and be under one year old at the start of the competition on Monday 17th September 2007. Applicants must be:
- EU citizens attending a UK university or have graduated on or after May 2006.
- If the Entrant a Sole Trader, the Sole Trader
- If the Entrant a Partnership, one of the partners
- If the Entrant a company, a director and shareholder of that company
- Closely involved with the set up of the Entrant
2. The Unipreneur Awards are open to sole traders, partnerships (limited liability partnerships) and companies, where the majority of shares are in private ownership. Businesses which are wholly or partly owned or managed by employees (or any of their spouses, partners or children) of any of the parties listed at 15 below are not eligible to enter.
3. Only one entry per applicant and business is permitted and all entries must be made via the Unipreneur website and authorised by a representative of the business.
4. The intellectual property rights (registered designs, patents, copyright etc.) of all information submitted remain with the original owner. Applicants and Entrants should note that certain intellectually property rights may be irrevocably lost if action to register them is not taken before any disclosure in publicity material. No responsibility whatsoever will be accepted by the parties listed at 15 below for any loss of intellectual property rights arising from entry into the Unipreneur Awards competition. Those Applicants/Entrants seeking guidance on intellectual property may wish to contact The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship via www.ncge.org.uk
5. The closing date for entry forms to be received at the Unipreneur Awards Office is Friday 23rd November 2007. No responsibility will be taken by any of the parties listed at 15 below for entries lost, damaged or delayed. Damaged or defaced entries will be disqualified.
6. The cash prize of £20,000 will be awarded to the Entrant and will be in the form of an HSBC Bank cheque made payable to the winner’s business account. No alternatives or variations are
offered and prizes are not transferable.
7. Judges will select a short list of 100 candidates (all of whom will be notified by post) from which 10 Semi Finalists will be chosen. The Judging Panel will then select five National Finalists who will compete for the top prize of £20,000 and the title HSBC Unipreneur 2008. Applicants and Entrants must supply any additional financial or other information requested, which may include audited accounts and/or a bank reference. Applicants and Entrants consent to the disclosure of all information provided by them to any party involved in assessing their entry which shall include, but which shall not be limited to, any of the parties listed at 15 below. In the event of non-availability of any of the Judging Panel, the remaining judges will make a decision, which will be final.
8. Semi Finalists competing for the title Unipreneur 2008 will be required to attend an interview with the Judging Panel in London during week commencing 31st March 2008. A maximum of two representatives (one of which must be the Applicant) of the Entrant may attend and standard class rail travel expenses within the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands will be reimbursed to attendees.
9. Five National Finalists will attend a Gala Evening at BAFTA, London, on the evening of Wednesday 23rd April 2008 (or at such other location and such other date as may be specified), where they will participate in a final judging session before a live audience, who will determine the outright winner, to be announced that night. Standard class rail travel expenses for travel within the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands will be reimbursed to, and accommodation provided for, a maximum of four representatives per National Finalist to attend the Gala Evening.
10. The winner of the Unipreneur Awards competition will be the Entrant considered by the judging audience to be the most promising business. All judging decisions are final and binding and no correspondence whatsoever will be entered into.
11. Any Applicant or Entrant submitting material in support of their entry is advised to submit copies and not originals. No responsibility or liability will be accepted by any of the parties listed at 15 below for any entry material which is lost, damaged in any way or destroyed. Subject to this, all entry material submitted will be available for collection from the Start-Up Stars Office, Aspect Communications, Stable Yard, 16 Balham Hill, London SW12 9EB between 1 and 30 May 2008. Please advise the Unipreneur Awards Office in writing, before the latter date, should you wish to arrange for collection. Thereafter all unclaimed entry material will be destroyed.
12. The names and postal districts/counties of the Semi Finalists, together with a list of judges will be available upon written request from the Unipreneur Awards office, Aspect Communications, Stable Yard, 16 Balham Hill, London SW12 9EB after 17th March 2008. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope with your request.
13. The parties listed at 15 below reserve the right to feature on any publicity or promotional material in any form the names and postal districts/counties of all or any of the 100 short listed candidates. All Applicants and Entrants agree to participate without payment in any publicity surrounding the Unipreneur awards, which may or may not be published or broadcast as a result.
14. All entries, content and details contained within all entries including without limitation any videos or similar media, may be reproduced and used by Aspect Communications Group Limited, HSBC Bank plc and The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) in any manner chosen without further consent.
15. The promoter of the Unipreneur Awards is Aspect Communications Group Limited. The sponsor is HSBC Bank plc and the Unipreneur Awards are presented in association with The National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE).
16. The promoter and the sponsor each reserve the right to vary, suspend or terminate the Unipreneur Awards at any time without compensation to any party.
17. The promotion and these Rules will be governed by English law and entrants and all other parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
All rights to the name Unipreneurs (TM) and in the Awards themselves are the exclusive property of Aspect Communications Group Limited, London.
