The Start Line: Showcasing the UK's newest entrepreneurial talent

BusinessZone.co.uk is always keen to support new entrepreneurial talent which is why we've launched The Start Line. This regularly updated section profiles the UK's newest and most exciting businesses.

Company: BookingBug
Established: November 2009
Website: www.bookingbug.com
Founder: Glenn Shoosmith and Gregory Bockenstette
BookingBug is an online booking and reservation platform designed to help businesses and organisations offer their time online. Suitable for almost any service based business, BookingBug aims to change the way they manage and publish services, classes, courses and events. BookingBug is an open platform that allows a business to push dynamic availability information across the internet to allow easy discovery by consumers wherever they look. By building key strategic partnerships BookingBug aims to help bridge the gap between service providers and consumers.

Company: SocialSafe
Established: August 2009
Website: www.socialsafe.net
Founder: A joint venture between iBundle and 1minus1 
SocialSafe is a simple, fun and effective tool that enables Facebook users to store and manage a copy of their Facebook data on their own computer. This includes photos, profile information, contact details, Wall comments, with additional data being included in future upgrades. SocialSafe allows Facebook users to store and access their Facebook data simply and effectively on their computer of choice. All it takes is a single ‘click’ to capture their Facebook information within seconds. Significantly there is no long initial registration stage – the entire process is completed in a matter of minutes.

Company: Familyfridge.co.uk
Established: May 2009
Website: www.familyfridge.co.uk
Founder: Lex Deak  Familyfridge.co.uk is a free online platform that provides modern families with simple tools to make certain aspects of family life just that little bit easier. A shared calendar, easy photo uploading, gift lists, address book and a host of other features are all packaged neatly within an ad free and totally private environment.

A lot of effort has gone into creating the intuitive and effortless user experience, the aim being to encourage maximum participation amongst those that are less tech savy. After all it's about including the whole family and enjoying the benefits of modern technology.

Company: Marketest
Established: October 2008
Website: www.marketest.co.uk
Founder: Nicolas Keller
Marketest is an online market research company for small businesses primarily working with entrepreneurs launching a new product or service. The company provides local, national and international market research using a group of more than 600,000 targeted panellists.

Company: Open Your Diary
Established: January 2009
Website: www.openyourdiary.com
Founder: Alex Elderfield
Open Your Diary makes taking appointments online easy and helps small businesses grow their customer base. Filling in a simple online form enables users to take bookings online, with automatic email and SMS reminders making missed appointments are a thing of the past. Understanding that small businesses, especially in today's climate, don't want big upfront capital investments or to be tied into long contracts, Open Your Diary offers a simple service and customers only pay if work is generated. Business directory listings and maps are also available to boost Google rankings and to help customers track users down.

Company: FOOB
Established: January 2009
Website: www.foob.co.uk
Founder: Max Griffiths
FOOB is a student marketing agency that works in partnership with universities and enables companies to target the UK student population. FOOB provides new students with a free USB stick pre-loaded with important university information, free space to save work and a directory of relevant companies. All university work and company advertisments are presented on a specially designed USB interface. In addition partnering universities can promote companies to the student population via university networks, student portals and on campus activity.

Company: Expert Magnet
Established: January 2009
Website: www.expertmagnet.com
Founder: James Leathem
The Expert Magnet platform is a smart and quick way to see which consultants, firms and experts can deliver the results and services your business needs. ExpertMagnet.com provides users with a personalised market gateway allowing them to post their business requirements and receive tailored responses from expert vendors outlining their relevant experience and capability.

Company: Adams Law
Established: January 2009
Website: www.adams-law.co.uk
Founder: Farah Adams
Adams Law aims to take a fresh approach to providing legal services in what is an unprecedented economic situation. The firm offers flexible ways of serving clients in the areas of employment law, hospitality and tourism law, property law and private client law to include powers of attorney, guardianship and wills. In some qualifying circumstances, the firm provides services free of charge. Adams Law is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland.

Company: My Vanity Case
Established: October 2008
Website: www.myvanitycase.co.uk
Founder: Michelle Shaw
Myvanitycase.co.uk is an online cosmetics boutique which brings its customers delightful beauty treats from around the globe direct to their door. The website aims to bring a range of exclusive and niche products which are relatively unknown to the UK market without the expense of shipping charges and import taxes. Myvanitycase.co.uk takes great pride in providing excellent customer service and all purchases come beautifully gift wrapped and delivered free of charge.

Company: Odessagne Sparkling
Established: September 2008
Website: www.odessagne.co.uk
Founder: Chris Jeffery
Odessagne imports award winning sparkling wine from Odessa on the Black Sea Coast. Currently stocking a range from a winery founded by Henri Roederer of the French Roederer Champagne family in 1896, the company plans to expand the product range in 2009. Russian royalty first brought French master Champagne makers to the vines of Odessa. This venture was so successful that in 1900 at the Paris World Fair, Russian sparkling wine defeated all the French entries to claim the internationally coveted 'Grand Prix de Champagne'.

Company: Middle Ground
Established: October 2008
Website:: www.middleground-china.co.uk
Founder: Andrew Peck
Middle Ground is a specialist consultancy providing services for businesses wishing to work in China. Services range from manufacturing sourcing for innovative British designers, through to trade fair representation and sales for companies in the service and export sector. Middle Ground's expertise base is broad and includes Chinese trained lawyers and former diplomatic interpreters on staff. Whereas many agencies tend to skim a percentage of all business established, Middle Ground believe in setting up a strong relationship between the British and Chinese partners and then stepping back.

Company: The IT Dept
Established: June 2008
Website:: www.The-IT-Dept.co.uk
Founder: Michael Donkin
The IT Dept offers a complete IT support service to business and home users throughout Lancashire. The company aims to become the IT department for those businesses which do not require their own IT staff. Whereas most IT support companies offer services based on a per computer fixed fee, The IT Dept offers a flexible amount of hours per month. The company is fully insured, with experienced and qualified technicians who are trained to go the extra mile in search of complete customer satisfaction.

Company: Joya Boxes
Established: June 2008
Website:: www.joyaboxes.com
Founder: Georgina Pearce
Joya Boxes produces innovative, stylish and practical hand-finished jewellery boxes which appeal to females old and young. The business' first product is a limited edition design with only 2000 available. Joya Boxes is already in talks with two well known high street chains and several online resellers about stocking its products.

Company: Thai Food Online
Established: April 2008
Website:: www.thai-food-online.co.uk
Founder: Julian Adikary
Thai Food Online stocks authentic Thai food products imported from Thailand which are not available in local supermarkets. The company turns over £2,500 a week, employs five people and plans to expand into selling other ethnic foods in 2009.

Company: 1st-To-Find Investigations
Established: April 2008
Website:: www.1st-to-find.co.uk
Founder: Caroline Stokes
Caroline Stokes set up her private investigations business after the Child Support Agency failed to trace the father of her daughter who had left 12 years previously. With several returning clients, 1st-To-Find Investigations has provided information on a murder case for the South Yorkshire Police which has remained unsolved since 1997.

Company: Fitness Box
Established: July 2008
Website:: www.fitnessbox.co.uk
Founder: Ross Calderwood
Edinburgh-based Fitness Box offers a range of sports clothing and assistive footwear to athletes of all levels and across a number of disciplines. The company aims to provide a level of service that is both informative and insightful and allows customers to focus on the hard work of actually doing the activity. From compression gear through to footwear that improves posture, Fitness Box is a boutique style of sport store that listens to customers in an attempt to meet their needs and wants.

Company: EstateAgencyFeesDirect.com
Established: April 2008
Website:: www.estateagencyfeesdirect.com
Founder: Jacqui and Marv Johnson
EstateAgencyFeesDirect.com enables property sellers to contact multiple local estate agents with their preffered terms and conditions and compare them on residential sales fees and valuations and those that offer additional services such as home information packs, conveyancing and surveys. The website aims to give the seller a hassle free way to negotiate fees and terms with multiple agents safe in the knowledge that agents both big and small will need to compete for the business.

Company: Instanttxt
Established: June 2008
Website:: www.instanttxt.co.uk
Founder: Andrew Freer
Instanttxt offers a variety of SMS services to a range of businesses. It aims to be a marketing partner to clients by advising and assisting them in making use of the growth in text messaging as a communition tool. Users can access web based services to store groups of contacts and templates and send bulk messages using their own handset.

Company: Minimyne
Established: April 2008
Website:: www.mimimyne.com
Founder: Tabitha Potts
Mimimyne showcases a range of quirky, contemporary designer products catering to babies, toddlers and parents. All products are sustainably produced to minimise the designer and consumer's carbon footprint and help children 'grow up green'. Mimimyne's furniture includes the Tiny Footprint Desk and Spin Tables by Naomi Dean and the SPLATT art storage station/chair by Spinifex. There are also organic T-shirts by productofyourenvironment, Twisted Twee and Mimimyne. In addtion, toys, shopping bags and craft kits are available.

Company: FirstRungProperty.com
Established: June 2008
Website:: www.firstrungproperty.com
Founder: Karen Harewood
FirstRungProperty.com is an exciting new way for first time buyers to get onto the property ladder. The company connects them with motivated vendors (people who need to sell quickly and are prepared to sell at a discount in exchange for a quick sale) and arranging for buyers to benefit from the discount by way of covering some or all of their deposit. As well as arranging to cover the buyer's upfront purchasing costs from the fee which is charged to the vendor, the business also operate a referral scheme so everyone who knows anyone who wants to buy for the first time can benefit.

Company: JobDreamz
Established: June 2008
Website:: www.jobdreamz.co.uk
Founder: Geoff Ford
JobDreamz is a UK wide generalist job board. The company provides a simple but powerful interface for advertisers to manage adverts and applications and includes features such as full colour adverts including banner, thumbnail logos, a company profile page, a company jobs page and a company RSS feed. All these features and more are included at no extra charge. In addition to regular marketing, all adverts are published on several third party websites to give maximum coverage. A free one month trial is on offer for interested parties.

Company: Stallfinder
Established: March 2008
Website:: Stallfinder.com
Founder: Gail O'Brien
Stallfinder.com is the UK's first one-stop shop for information on stallholders, events, fundraising and direct sales or party plan businesses. Stallfinder is essentially a dating agency for stallholders and event organisers with a database of UK events and a register of stallholders. Event organisers can use Stallfinder to search for stallholders and vice versa. The company also offers fundraising ideas, information and advice for stallholders and event organisers plus featured charities. There is no charge for event advertising so Stallfinder is a very useful free resource for charities and event organisers.

If you have started a business in the past six months and would like to be featured in The Start Line, email editor@businesszone.co.uk with the name of the company founder, the month the business was set up and up to 100 words description. Remember, only companies established during the past six months are eligible.