An entrepreneur who was inspired by her grandfather to start a fashion brand for people with disabilities and health conditions has won a NatWest competition for startup business leaders.
Hanan Tantush, of Cheshire, founded Intotum after seeing how her grandfather struggled to find stylish clothes adapted to his needs as he faced cancer treatment.
Now she has won £70,000 at the first round of , a programme that gives small business owners a chance to compete for a share of £1m. The bank now wants more entrepreneurs from across the country to share their business pitches in the next rounds of the competition.
The first round was held at NatWest’s Spinningfields Accelerator hub in Manchester, where Hanan was named the winner after two hours of debate. Now Hanan says she wants to move into the sportswear market.
After her Pitch win, Hanan said: “I’m feeling very overwhelmed, it's not really hit me yet, but I'm honestly kind of lost for words that I've just won.
“We make comfortable, functional and fashionable clothing for the disabled community, so we take away the need to alter or put up your clothing by making ready to wear clothing that has all the functions and the comfort that you would need every day.
“We're going to be using the money from NatWest for our next collection and for a really exciting sportswear project because we're trying to create a new class of adaptive sports clothing.”
Two other businesses won funding at the Manchester event. Jas Schembri-Stothart of teenagers’ healthcare app Luna Life, received £20,000 – while Alex Somervell, creator of scams protection tool Ask Silver, won £10,000.
The event at Spinningfields was the first of the tenth anniversary celebration of Accelerator, NatWest’s programme for small firms that has supported 10,000 entrepreneurs across the Ƶ since 2015.
is offering small business owners and entrepreneurs the chance to win a share of £1m in funding to “fuel their growth”.
Entrants have to submit a 60-second video pitch about their track record and explaining how funding would help them grow their business. The best submissions will be selected to compete in live events in London and Birmingham where they will give a 10 minute ‘Dragons’ Den’-style pitch in front of a judging panel.
The bank hopes to expand NatWest Pitch to Bristol, Scotland and Northern Ireland next year. After the Manchester event, Darren Pirie, head of the NatWest Accelerator, said: “Congratulations to all of the finalists and the winners from this inaugural round – the quality of the entrants and the standard of the businesses made this opening event a real challenge for the judges. Given Manchester and the north’s long history as a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation it felt like the right place to begin this celebration.
“As Britain's biggest bank for start-ups, we believe that supporting small business growth is key to a strong economy which is why we are thrilled to launch NatWest Pitch to do just that.
“As we mark 10 years of the NatWest Accelerator, this competition is a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas, telling us about their successes and milestones to date and how they’ll use the funding to grow to the next level. My advice is that if you are interested in future applications, don’t be modest – tell us what makes your business special.”
Like this story? Why not sign up here for free to get the latest business news straight to your inbox.
