A young entrepreneur who was inspired by his ill grandfather to create something that would help keep dementia patients mentally active has won the South East heat of BusinessZone.co.uk's The Pitch 2010, in association with Yell.
Presenting his business, Active Minds, to a panel of judges that included ex-TV Dragon Doug Richard and investment guru Julie Meyer, Ben Atkinson-Willes said that during his grandfather's illness, he was dismayed to find that there was nothing on the market specifically designed for care patients, meaning they often ended up struggling to complete children’s puzzles or colouring books.
"These are often too difficult and incorporate inappropriate images that are very patronising," he said. "As a result many residents are left in armchairs around the room with nothing to do."
Atkinson-Willes, whose products include specially designed jigsaw puzzles and reusable water-painting kits, now goes through to The Pitch grand final in November to compete for a £50,000 business support prize package. He scored highly with the judges for his professionalism and for the simplicity of his business.
Commenting on his win at the British Library in central London, the entrepreneur said: "I'm speechless. It was such a strong field and I didn't think I stood a chance. I did a lot of practice in front of my housemates and it obviously paid off. Now I'm just looking forward to the final in November. I’ll keep trying to push the business between now and then so I've got lots of new things to talk about."
Competition judge Doug Richard, who was also involved in The Pitch 2009, said: "It's very admirable what Ben is doing. There's a business there. It's very clear to me that he's hit on something. The standard of businesses in this year’s competition has been a huge improvement on last year."Helen Stevenson, fellow judge and chief marketing officer for Yell, the competition's main sponsor, added: "I was really touched by the genesis of the idea and I think Ben has really thoughtfully and cleverly designed something that was simple and extremely profitable. He's got a really simple product with a very high margin and a great design."
The other finalists in the South East heat were:
- Anorak – a lifestyle brand specialising in design, wholesale and retails of a range of products for the great outdoors
- Decibel Music Systems - Decibel aims to be the new industry standard for music metadata
- Snoozeshade - innovative baby products designed by a mother, to make life easier for parents
- Metronaps - helps companies assess levels of fatigue within staff groups and provide training and interventions to help eradicate tiredness and fatigue
Dragons' Den judges James Caan and Deborah Meaden and social entrepreneur Karen Darby are some of the successful entrepreneurs who feature in our exclusive videos. 
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