In the UK, research and recruitment firm FreshMinds has won the London regional final of the Bank of Scotland Corporate Challenge, and with it up to £5m of interest-free funding.

The firm beat fellow short-listers Gü Chocolate Puddings, Justgiving, Country House Weddings and Quintessentially. The win was announced last night in an event at The Imperial War Museum London – not inappropriate perhaps in a week when the award sponsor’s embattled parent HBOS has been snapped up by Lloyds TSB after a run on its stock.

FreshMinds says it will invest the money in its expanding FreshNetworks division, set up last year, which builds and manages online communities to give clients customer understanding, drive innovation and promote brand advocacy. Charlie Osmond, co-founder and CEO of FreshMinds, says winning ‘will have a huge impact on the business and really allow us to build for the future.’ It is also the ticket to a national final in December, where winners from seven regions will compete for the title of ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’.

The company was founded in 2000 by Osmond and Caroline Plumb, and in addition to launching the new division also established FreshMinds Research and FreshMinds Talent as standalone business units during a busy 2007. It works with a network of over 16,000 ‘Minds’, analysts, consultants and researchers of high academic calibre, who both work on research projects and provide a pool of talent for the recruitment division.

Web site: www.freshminds.co.uk .

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