I was delighted to learn that a local team has made it to the finals of Carnegie UK Trust's TestTown - a competition designed to enable young innovators (between the ages of 16 and 30) to develop and showcase truly original business ideas that will help to rejuvenate Britain's town centres.
The first year of the TestTown initiative saw more than 550 young people from across the country produce over a hundred great enterprising ideas.
Only the 12 best have now been given financial support and mentoring to help develop their ideas and bring them to TestTown. At the end of June, they will join the other teams in trading for real in vacant units in the TestTown finals base of Dunfermline. The winner of this national competition will be decided by a panel of independent judges including Kwikfit billionaire Sir Tom Farmer, with the winner picking up a £10 000 prize to help them grow the next great British high street business.
I've spoken with Graham McCann, one of the team of young innovators from Dundee, about their project “Functional Fitness Express”. The business will deliver a 15-minute high intensity to customers, a shower facility, high speed drier, and a balanced protein meal to take away.
Graham advises:
"In the process of setting up Functional Fitness Dundee Limited, a new type of fitness facility in Dundee, one of my clients alerted me to this competition held by Carnegie Trust UK. A competition targeting young entrepreneurs to give ideas on how to use all the vacant units we see in high streets these days. I was initially made aware of the competition a few months prior to this day and had totally gone out of my head until it was the last day for entries. So I decided on a whim to put our entry in!
Our entry - The entry was to be an extension of the business we are building, called Functional Fitness Express - a 30 minute, one stop shop for exercise and nutrition for the busy individual!
The workout...
4 Minute cardio using an interval system called Tabata
5 Minute total body training using a suspension trainer and Peripheral Heart Action (PHA) Training
5 Minute intense core workout to stabilise the body.
Quick stop shower and dry.
leave the gym or sit in with a protein shake of your choice and a piece of fruit of your choice for a nutritionally sound snack, or a salad if at meal times!
In and out in 30 minutes!
From a total of 600 entries, we have made the final 10. We now get the chance to pilot this idea assisted by a grant through Carnegie Trust of £1000. If successful, the winner receives £10 000 to invest in business. We hope to do our best in representing Dundee, win the event and invest into the future of Dundee's population. Branching out into business to business service making employees fitter and more aware of health and lifestyle."
I wish Graham and his colleagues all the best at the finals later this month!