It’s back, it’s bigger and it’s better than before. This year The Sunday Times Bank of Scotland Corporate Entrepreneur Challenge has up to £35m in interest-free loans for seven British entrepreneurs who have the drive and ability to take their businesses to the next level – and beyond.

This is not a competition for the fainthearted. The winning entrepreneur in each of seven regions across the UK will receive an interest-free loan of up to £5m for three years. At today’s interest rates – Bank rate stands at 5.5% – that is equivalent to a cash prize of £825,000.

The Sunday Times and Bank of Scotland Corporate Entrepreneur Challenge, which first took place last year, is quite simply the biggest prize ever awarded to business in this country. It has the power to transform businesses, to make reputations, to change lives. Can you really afford to miss out?

We are looking for established entrepreneurs whose companies have a turnover of at least £2m and at least two years’ continuous growth in profits and sales. The businesses can be operating in almost any industry sector, with one or two exceptions. The key to success is to inspire the judges and to prove that you have the determination to succeed.

Along with the business itself, the judges will be looking for an individual who has the qualities needed to lift his or her company to the next level, and, crucially, has prepared for the journey by creating a strong and motivated management team.

Launching the 2008 Challenge, Peter Cummings, chief executive of Bank of Scotland Corporate, said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce this year’s Entrepreneur Challenge.”

“We are seeking to back those who demonstrate entrepreneurial endeavour and innovation, resilience and risk management, and who have thought about where they want to take the business. I believe that this country has got latent entrepreneurialism. I believe we have only scraped the surface in terms of the number of companies that are beginning to think in an entrepreneurial way.”

Acknowledging that the 2008 Challenge would take place in a very different economic climate from last year’s competition, he said: “The economic climate and the tax regimes over the past 10 years or so have given people confidence in business. What is important is that this confidence level is maintained and developed.” He added: “I think it is a very exciting time and a very interesting time for entrepreneurs. My expectation is that some of the good ones will rise to the top in the next one or two years.”

Cummings said it was vital that Britain continues to support its entrepreneurs. “It is fundamentally important to the health of the nation that we have an entrepreneurial base, that we have citizens, corporates and businesses that have the courage to commit to investment to exploit opportunities.

“The underlying health of the nation is dependent on the ability of business and the ability of its citizens to drive wealth creation. It is wealth creation that will stimulate economic activity, which will in turn fill the tax coffers of government. And it is the tax coffers of government that will stimulate investment in infrastructure, education and health.”

Cummings added: “This is not about individual wealth. This is about employment and taxation benefits and the creation of value and wealth, hopefully across the country. And the more we can do this, the more it stimulates others.”

He said he hoped that even for those companies that did not win a prize, the mere act of entering the competition would reap benefits by forcing companies to think hard about what direction their business was heading in.

Choosing the regional winner will be the job of a distinguished lineup of judges, many of whom are successful entrepreneurs themselves. The panel includes Lorna Moran, chief executive of Northern Recruitment, Bill Muirhead, founding partner of M&C Saatchi, Nick Wheeler, founder and managing director of Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts, and David Jackson, chairman and chief executive of Redhall Group.

Moran said: “I think it is essential to raise awareness of entrepreneurs and to get as many role models out there as possible. It is important to make it look as achievable as possible because a lot of people think it is an unachievable thing for them to run their own businesses. The more publicity that entrepreneurs get the better.”

She added: “If you really want to get high growth into a business you need plenty of finance. Hand to mouth just doesn’t do it. High-growth businesses need finance.”

From the seven regional winners, a national winner will be chosen who will receive mentoring from one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Just think of the opportunities that having a £5m interest-free loan could open up for your business. Just think of the doors that funding could swing open. You may wish to use the funding package to launch a new product or service, or to expand into a new market.

You could fund acquisitions, take on new staff and premises or invest in new machinery or factories. The choice is yours. All you have to do is convince our panel of judges that you are the one to back, that you have the energy and enthusiasm to see your vision through to the end.

Muirhead, who is one of the regional judges, said: “Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of business. If you are not doing new things as a business then the business will die.”

Of the judging process, he said: “I will be looking for fresh thinking and simplicity of ideas. Openness and good presentation skills are also important because they are all part of being a good communicator.”

Last year’s Entrepreneur Challenge proved that Britain is a vibrant hub of entrepreneurial activity, with innovation touching every corner of the nation from Aber-deen to Cornwall and from Holyhead to Norfolk. It produced a stellar lineup of regional winners.

They were Aberdeen-based RB Farquhar, which supplies ready-made bathroom and shower-room units to the construction industry, which plans to use the £5m interest-free loan to expand into the Middle East; Iris Worldwide, a marketing agency based in south London which plans to use the money to expand overseas by opening new offices; Tyrrells, a crisp maker based on a family farm in Hereford which intends to use the loan to start making vodka from its unused potatoes; and Drive Tech, based in Berk-shire, which runs training courses for drivers. It plans to use the loan to start providing training courses for learner drivers as an alternative to the traditional driving instructor route.

The overall national winner last year was Daisy Communications, a Lancashire company that provides telephone and internet services to small and medium-sized firms. It plans to use the interest-free loan to expand through acquisition.

Matt Riley, founder of Daisy Communications and one of this year’s regional judges, said: “To get a £5m interest-free loan is really a massive benefit, especially with the credit squeeze we currently face. Traditionally banks are very cautious towards entrepreneurs, so I think it is great that Bank of Scotland Corporate is embracing the fact that entrepreneurs create wealth and jobs and prosperity for other people.

“Winning the Entrepreneur Challenge really helps people like myself to be taken more seriously. More than anything it gives you a stamp of approval for people to do business with you.”

“But it is not just about the winning,” said Riley. “Even if you just enter the competition, you are going to learn something about your business – I certainly did. It wasn’t just the award that was great, it was having time to reflect on my business and see the areas where we were strong and where we needed to improve.”

The 2008 Entrepreneur Challenge will build on the achievements of last year and celebrate and promote the unrivalled level of entrepreneurial activity in Britain.

So, do you have big dreams for your com-pany? Do you think you have what it takes to expand and dominate your market? Have you got the burning desire to see how far you can take your business? If so, then we want to hear from you.

The first step is to fill in an entry form online at www.theboschallenge.co.uk, where you can find all the details. The entry process is straightforward, but check first that your company is eligible. All entries must be received by midnight on May 19, 2008.

After studying the entries, a specialist team from Bank of Scotland Corporate and Deloitte will draw up a short list of entries in each region. The seven regions are Scotland, Northeast England, Northwest England and North Wales, Midlands and East Anglia, London, Southeast England and Southwest England and South Wales.

Those shortlisted will be invited to present their case in person to our panel of judges. The winners of each region will be invited to celebrate their success at a number of regional dinners, where they will have the opportunity to network with some of Britain’s top entrepreneurs. The Sunday Times will feature all winners in its extensive coverage of the event.

The overall national winner will be announced at a glittering awards dinner in December.

Each of the seven prize loans will be entirely free of interest, charges and fees for three years. In addition, each of the seven regional winners will receive free trans-actional banking for three years and £25,000 towards the legal fees to arrange the terms of the funding (see details in panel on opposite page).

This truly is the opportunity of a lifetime. So what are you waiting for?

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