Digital start-ups in Jersey are being given the chance to win a permanent seat at the heart of the island’s growing tech community thanks to a competition from Digital Jersey that’s being supported by NatWest.
The winner of the NatWest Desk competition will win their own desk for one year within the ‘permanent desk’ area of the Digital Jersey Hub in St Helier.
It means they’ll be able to carry out their work in the midst of some of the brightest and most entrepreneurial tech minds in the island, and be best placed to network and collaborate on future projects.
The winner will also receive a free Digital Jersey membership with complete access to the rest of the Digital Jersey Hub for one year, which includes hot desk, break-out spaces, meeting rooms and a refreshment station. The Hub is also home to a year-round calendar of events designed to help the sector thrive.
Tony Moretta, CEO of Digital Jersey, said: “I am simply thrilled to see the return of the NatWest Desk competition. With the support of our valued sponsor, we’ve seen new faces arrive at the Digital Jersey Hub and go on to super-charge their work in no small part thanks to being immersed in the brilliant work that people in tech in Jersey are doing day in, day out.”
Entrants are being asked to submit a two-page business plan to demonstrate how they believe winning the NatWest Desk will help them take their work to the next level. A panel of expert judges, including representatives of Digital Jersey and NatWest, will choose the winner.
The Managing Director of International Retail and Commercial Banking of NatWest in Jersey, Richard Bolingbroke, said: “I am delighted that NatWest International will be sponsoring the Digital Jersey Desk Competition once again. In previous years, it has been fantastic to see how the winners have been able to grow their ideas into sustainable businesses that have provided employment, created opportunities on the island and most importantly, pushed the island ever closer to a digital future. This ties in perfectly into NatWest International’s purpose: championing potential, helping people, families and businesses to thrive.
“Supporting entrepreneurship is one those key pillars that we support and want to champion in our jurisdictions and so we fully support Digital Jersey and encourage islanders to get involved and submit their pitches and ideas. I look forward to seeing your responses in the near future.”
CEO of Snap Design & Digital, Tom Le Sueur, a previous winner of the NatWest competition, said “getting approval for my business plan from Digital Jersey, NatWest and Jersey Business gave me the confidence I needed to leave my 9-5 job and start a digital business that now employs twelve12 people. Looking back having a rent-free desk, access to mentors, free coffee, free WiFi and being with like-minded people really helped make the leap into entrepreneurship much less daunting”.
You can enter the competition by clicking here. The closing date is Friday 30th July 2021.
