BLACK STARS RISING

What do a charming young man fluent in technology and a successful media woman have in common? Stacy-Marie Ishmael finds out.

The United Kingdom is a nation of entrepreneurs, and ethnic minorities comprise a significant proportion of those individuals willing to take on the risks and rewards of running their own businesses. While people from ethnic minorities form just 5% of the population, they account for 9% of private-sector start-ups. There are over 250,000 ethnic minority businesses in the UK, contributing £13 billion annually to the economy.

It’s not an easy path to profit, however. Official statistics show that ethnic minorities are more likely to be refused the funding and technical assistance required to launch a small business than are their white counterparts.

Against this backdrop, the Black Enterprise Awards were established to recognise the best and the brightest of those who have had to overcome such obstacles.

Held every year since 2002, the awards honour the achievements of talented African and African-Caribbean entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. Stafford Carrington, the 2005 winner of the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award, typifies the “exceptional innovation, headship, determination, creativity, vision, joint effort, and integrity” that these prestigious prizes celebrate.

Stafford is the C.E.O. of Impact IT, a recruitment and consultancy firm that works with companies in sectors as diverse as information technology, medicine, sales and finance. His first experience of entrepreneurship came at an early age. “Running my own business was something I’d always wanted to do. When I was younger, I used to flog my mum’s clothes at car boots sales,” he laughs.

Stafford explains that “it was quite difficult in the beginning. Banks wouldn’t take a second look at me, and I was getting very little help from other financial institutions. I finally had to go off and do it on my own.”

“I maxed out all my credit cards, didn’t eat a lot and didn’t have much of a social life. I started off in a small room behind a chip shop, with a five-year-old computer and a plastic garden chair, spending 16 hours a day bent over my keyboard. I put all my energies into it, and in the end it all paid off.”

Stafford attributes his success to his goal-oriented nature, and he advises young people who are considering becoming entrepreneurs to have a clear sense of what they want to achieve. “Just do it,” he says, “focus, really focus on what you want, and do what it takes to get there. Don’t be a follower. Lead.”

Alestir Waller agrees. In 2002, Alestir founded Media For All, a company which trains young people in the fine art of broadcast. Alestir has worked with some of the media’s biggest names and holds a first-class degree from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, Europe’s top college for broadcasters. Yet, her proudest achievement to date is the success that she has had in guiding young ethnic minorities into successful careers in radio and television.

In 2005, Media For All was named the Black Enterprise Emerging Company of the Year, which Alestir describes as “very exciting.” Her trainees – who have worked with the BBC, Sky, and Def Jam Records – would certainly agree.

“When I was at Ravensbourne, I was the only black student on my course. Before I started people had said that I wouldn’t get in, that I didn’t stand a chance. I did get in, and I graduated with the only first in my course that year!” Alestir recalls. “The whole experience made me realise just how many gaps there were in the media industry, and I wanted to be able give young people the opportunities that I had.”

Alestir set up Media For All as “a pathway to a career in broadcast, for those who wouldn’t otherwise get there. Instead of an internship where you make tea for three months, you’re out making programmes with us.”

“Our students have filmed Kanye West and Dizzee Rascal. They’ve worked side by side with Channel 4 - they’re getting real experience with seasoned professionals,” she explains.

“I want to teach young people that they have only to tap into their own talent, and that they don’t have to be someone else to succeed. My greatest joy is sitting in my house on an evening and watching a programme, knowing the credits will feature students that I’ve trained. It’s a real buzz.”

If Alestir and Stafford are anything to go by, the future of ethnic minority entrepreneurship is bright.

Nominations for the 2006 awards close on 9 February 2007. The awards ceremony will be held in Spring 2007.

The Ten Award Categories:

Business Innovator

Rising Star

Emerging Company

Entrepreneur of the Year

Lifetime Achievement

Young Entrepreneur

Corporate Leader

International Business

Enterprise Champion

Employer of the Year