An Edinburgh Napier student that aims to spice up the Scottish street food scene
has been announced as the inaugural winner of the University’s Appin
Entrepreneurship Award.
Business management student Kael Begbie – known as The Hoagie Man – scooped the top prize of £2,000 after coming out top in the competition held at Edinburgh
Napier’s Bright Red Triangle earlier this month.
Kael– who will this week graduate with a degree in Business Management - pitched
his way to success, pipping three other Edinburgh Napier student finalists to
the top prize as he impressed judges with his plans to launch his new food
business this month (22 July) at the popular Pitt Market in Leith.
Kael’s food outlet specialises in wraps, with his signature dish – the hoagie – putting
a Scottish spin on the classic burrito by substituting the regular meat
ingredient of chicken or beef with haggis.
Alongside the prize money that he will use to help support the launch of his business,
Kael will also now receive 1:1 business advice and support from Bright Red
Triangle - a free resource for Edinburgh Napier students, staff and alumni to
develop enterprise skills and entrepreneurship opportunities.
KaelBegbie said:
“I'm very proud to be the first winner of this competition and it's given me a fantastic opportunity to grow my business with a generous investment.
I hope to return for future competitions and see a new wave of young entrepreneurs boldly exploring new ideas and developing their businesses.”
In its inaugural year, the Appin Entrepreneurship Award has been led by the
University’s Bright Red Triangle alongside support from its Development and Alumni
Relations team. It has been established to encourage and support the
development of entrepreneurial ideas and concepts within the University’s
student and graduate community.
The award has been made possible thanks to the generous support of two trailblazing
entrepreneurs, Damien O’Looney and Bing Li, who met whilst studying Marketing
and Entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier.
The pair have donated the award and prize money to celebrate and recognise
outstanding student and graduate entrepreneurs each year at the University.
As young entrepreneurs Damien and Bing Co-founded UK-China Trading Ltd (UKCT), a
product sourcing business in 2010, but they didn't stop there.
Damien and Bing's entrepreneurial journey has seen the pair launch a number of
successful businesses, including an English school in China, a property letting
agency, a holiday letting agency, a Sportswear supplier Appin Sports for mass
sports events and custom football apparel and a business which responded to the
COVID-19 pandemic to source and supply PPE to the NHS and to various outlets
internationally.
Damien O’Looney said:
“The Centre for Entrepreneurship was instrumental in bringing Bing and I together and gave us the knowledge and confidence we needed to try and run a business ourselves
It also gave us practical tools which are needed in every business, so we hope our Appin alumni award can help fledgling businesses with the cash they need to start their business.”
Pete McLean, Business Growth Advisor at Edinburgh Napier’s Bright Red Triangle,
said:
“We are delighted that the Appin Award has been launched and would like to congratulate Kael on his well-deserved win.
We are grateful to Damien and Bing for their generous support – their contribution will allow us to help more budding entrepreneurs turn their business ideas into reality, and provides a brilliant platform for showcasing the student innovation and entrepreneurial spirit present at Napier.
Dr Maggie Anderson, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier, said:
“I’m delighted as the Entrepreneurship lecturer to both, to be able to connect Damien and Bing, two Napier alumni Entrepreneurs with Kael, a current student, to fund and enable him to progress his business idea. The competition focussed this year on students who had studied the Starting a New Business module and it was great to have so many keen to take their ideas further- that’s what Entrepreneurship is all about. We look forward to further competitions thanks to the generous funding now in place, to enable many more students to become alumni entrepreneurs of the future .”
More details on the Appin Entrepreneurship Award and Bright Red Triangle can be
found here.