Bloom Gin is offering female entrepreneurs the chance to win a share of £25,000, to turn their passions into business realities, with help from female business leaders across industries ranging from drinks to fashion and wellness.  

 

One winner will win £20,000 to assist them with developing their ‘Passion Project’, while one runner up will win a place on the ‘Future Female Founders Club’ and £1,000 to assist them with developing their Passion Project. The four remaining finalists will each receive £1,000 to assist them with developing their Passion Project.

 

To be in with a chance of winning, entrants must visit www.bloomgin.com/passion-projects and submit their business proposal entry by midnight on 11th December 2020.

 

Members of the Women in Travel Retail (WiTr) group are invited to enter the competition which is also open to women in the UK and Netherlands on the domestic market.

 

The series began with the inspirational duo behind mixers brand, Double Dutch, Raissa and Joyce De Haas, and has since seen Hilary Rowland, founder of the fitness company, Boom Cycle, and Steph Douglas, founder of gifting website, Don’t Buy Her Flowers share their stories with the Bloom Gin audience [typically women aged 25+].

 

SPEAKER LINEUP

Other speakers in the series include: Orlagh McCloskey and Henrietta Rix – Co-Founders of the global fashion label, Rixo; Lauren Dallas – Co-Founder and CEO of Future Females; Abi Oyepitan and Liha Okunniwa – Co-Founders of sustainable beauty brand, Liha Beauty; Mercedes Benson – DJ and Founder of Social Fixt, an organisation connecting black talent to jobs in creative industries

 

As mentioned, Bloom Gin will also be partnering with ‘Future Females’, a global movement with 50,000 members, that exists to increase the number of and success of female entrepreneurs.

 

Together they are hosting ‘Bloom in Business’, a skills online workshop series to help female entrepreneurs to develop the key personal and technical skills needed to start and grow a thriving business.  All content is available from the campaign website: www.bloomgin.com/passion-projects.

 

The final stage of the campaign is the Bloom Passion Projects competition, with entrants competing to win a share of the £25,000 in funding to create a business from their passion.

 

FINALISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY

Following an initial judging round for the Bloom Passion Project competition, finalists will be announced in January next year and will be invited to the grand finale, which will take place in February 2021 at The Allbright in Mayfair, London.

 

Finalists will have the opportunity to meet the judging panel, including some of the female business leaders involved in the Passion Projects Instagram Series, before pitching their business proposal to the judges.

 

The Passion Projects initiative from Bloom follows research undertaken by the all-female Bloom team, which polled 2,000 UK women aged 25 and over, and found that while nearly half (45%) of women had considered starting their own business, just under a fifth (18%) had gone on to do so.

 

The research also found that for many women, Covid-19 lockdown has made them reflect and readjust their priorities, with nearly half of women (45%) stating they now had more time to focus on themselves and their future ambitions.

 

INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION OF ENTREPRENEURS

As a result, a further 45% have started a new hobby or progressed with an existing hobby, with one in ten of these women (10%) turning it into a side business. When respondents were asked why they have not turned this side business into a full-time business, the top reasons given were lack of time due to already having another full-time or part-time job (32%), a lack of confidence (30%) and a lack of financial resource (24%).

 

Elaine Maher, Brand Director for Bloom Gin at Quintessential Brands, comments: “Bloom Gin came about as a result of our Master Distiller, Joanne Moore’s passion for gin and her desire and determination to make a gin that even non-gin drinkers would appreciate; Bloom has since gone on to become a much-loved gin brand around the world, which just goes to show what you can do when you believe in yourself.

 

“With Bloom Passion Projects, we’re aiming to inspire other women to go for it, just like Joanne did, and support them to achieve their potential. The women who are joining us on this initiative are truly inspirational and we’re all looking forward to helping the next generation of female entrepreneurs to bloom.”

 

Visit https://bloomgin.com/passion-projects/ to find more information on the campaign, webinars and competition.