Eight enterprising UEL graduates are celebrating after being awarded £1,500 from the Haberdashers' New Entrepreneurs Fund, recently established to allow UEL students and graduates to develop innovative business ideas.

Michael Perkins of the Haberdashers' Company, one of the UK’s largest grant-making foundations, presented the entrepreneurs with certificates of success at a ceremony held in the Knowledge Dock Centre on the 2nd April.

Michael said: “At the Haberdashers' Company, we aim to give charities and business start-ups the opportunity to take themselves forward. I’ve been extremely impressed by the ideas, application and talent on show here at UEL, and I look forward to hearing the success stories that result from these grants.”

The successful entrepreneurs will now develop their business ideas under the guidance of Knowledge Dock.

Awad Bhenick (25), of Barking, is a UEL Media and Advertising graduate who now runs Blue Sky Media, a video design and production company, from his base in the HotHatch. Awad said: “Studying at UEL was a wonderful experience, not least because of the opportunities I've had to develop my entrepreneurial skills. This grant is typical of the way Knowledge Dock works so hard to support me and countless other entrepreneurs and businesses in East London.”

Thorsten Klein, Manager of UEL’s HotHatch, said: “This is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job - giving out money to help entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas. One of the main aims of the Knowledge Dock HotHatch is to provide an environment where budding entrepreneurs can utilise the facility and its services to test and develop their business ideas at relatively low risk.”