A young entreprenuer is set to receive £7,500 from VistaPrint as part of project to help small businesses grow.

A total of 20 businesses from across the country will receive a share of the £150,000 'Realising the Remarkable' grant money as well as access to VistaCreate Pro, 99 designs by Vista's Silver logo and brand guide package.

They will also get £500 to spend on marketing materials on the VistaPrint website.

Grant winner Natasha Birk founded Chorley-based eco-friendly eyelash brand Laguna Lashes to reduce plastic pollution in the beauty industry in 2020.

Natasha, 21, said: “When I received the email and found out I’d won the competition, I couldn’t quite believe it.

"I thought about all of the amazing creative activities I could now carry out with the grant which I have wanted to execute for so long. 

"The grant and Vista’s branding expertise will allow us to communicate our brand consistently and increase brand awareness for our relaunch.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

According to data collected by VistaPrint between Dec 2022 and Jan 2023, four in five UK SMEs are struggling to plan beyond 2023, and while a third are confident that they’ll hit targets, 40 per cent are unsure and 11 per cent suspect they will not. 

The grant programme, which was launched in January 2023 aims to aid resilient entrepreneurs who seek to grow and thrive despite the difficult economic circumstances and uncertainty they face.

Small business owners had to demonstrate a clear plan for growth, concrete examples of how access to the grant would be spent to improve their business, how the support package would aid their growth through expert marketing and branding aids and how this would have a positive impact on the local community.

Emma Jones, founder and chief executive of small business support platform Enterprise Nation, said: "Grants and relevant support like this from VistaPrint have become a lifeline to the UK's entrepreneurial community at a critical moment.

"It's wonderful to see so many ambitious small business owners responding to the opportunity and building the brands of the future.

"We can't wait to see how this financial boost and trusted guidance will help them to bloom and grow."

Brand Strategy Director at VistaPrint, Antoine Thieser, added: “The aim of this grant was to realise the remarkable, and reward the brilliant small businesses that have faced down tough economic circumstances yet remained positive and become key pillars of the community."