PRIME Initiative

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of Easyjet and Easygroup, has teamed up with charity Leonard Cheshire and the British Chamber of Commerce to introduce a new £50,000 award. It is aimed specifically at people who have achieved business success despite having a disability.

The deadline for entries is the 14th of September 2007. To be eligible you need to have been trading for under three years, have a turnover of over £10,000 per year and personally own at least 40 per cent of the business. You must also identify as a disabled person and show how the prize money would benefit the business.

The prize - a single cheque for £50K, will be handed over by Stelios personally as part of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Awards ceremony at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on the 29th November. More details and an entry form can be found at www.disabledentrepreneur.org

“Self employment is the only viable option for many disabled people as it offers flexibility and helps bypass much of the prejudice that sadly still exists in the workplace”, said Sir Stelios . “With 50 per cent of disabled adults out of work, helping to remove the barriers disabled people face to being in business is essential.”