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At her east London office,Georgina Nelson is pre-paring a three-minutespeech. Tomorrowevening shewill presenther fast-growing ven-
turetoanaudienceof400influentialnames at St James’s Palace.At Pitch@Palace, an initiative set
up by Prince Andrew, Nelson willjoinanother13shortlistedentrepre-neurs hoping to have their businessplans crowned thebest. Thewinnergets cash investment and supportworth£40,000, andotherhigh fin-ishers receive office space andaccess to accelerator programmes.“It’sanopportunitytogetinfront
of influential people, network andget your message out there,” saidNelson,35,whorunstruRating.Thebusiness, which she started 18months ago with five co-founders,lets consumers review firms as they
pay forgoods.Oncredit card termi-nals, customers rate a service andresultsareloadedontothetruRatingsite. The firm,with 34 staff, alreadyhas angel investment exceeding£4m and is opening offices in Aus-tralia, America and Canada.“Reviews on current sites can
easily be written by the owner, orby a competitor,” said Nelson. Tru-Rating charges companies amonthly fee to have its systeminstalled and feedback uploaded.She has applied for four patents.Thefounderisalreadyontheroad
to global expansion, but she knowstomorrow’s contest will push tru-Ratingintothelimelight.“Endorse-ment from the Duke of York isincredibly powerful,” she said.It’s been a year since Prince
Andrew threw his weight behindsome of Britain’s promising youngcompanies by mounting a pitching
competition. Last year he hostedtwo pitches, tapping his contactsbook to connect showcasing firmswith powerful names. Through theevents,newcomers tobusinesshavemet investors, been introduced tonew clients and won exposure thathas helped them grow.Theprince sayshismotives are to
championthecountry’s innovators,a task helped greatly by his status.“Pitch@Palacemakesbestuseofmyconvening power and networks,”he said. “Championing entrepre-neurs and high-growth companiesis vital if we want to grow andencourage enterprising ideas to berealisedandgiventhebestopportu-nity to take root.“I am passionate about sup-
porting British prosperity and therequirements to ensure that this issupported for the long term.”Entrepreneurs are the future job
makers and modernisers, he said.“As big businesses become evermore efficient and technologyallows them the use of robotics andother developments, there is a needfor more entrepreneurial activity toemploy the numbers coming intotheworkingworld.”The duke emphasised that sup-
port for start-upsandgrowingven-
tures should come in various forms.“In many cases I have seen that itisn’t always financial support thatcan make the biggest difference. Itcan be finding the right customersfor whatever that entrepreneur isseeking to develop. At Pitch,we canhelpby tailoring the audience to suitthe start-up or high-growth com-panies in their quests.”Another hopeful gracing
tomorrow’s stage is 28-year-oldJacquelineJessicaLam.Lastyearshestarted Mihaibao, an online mar-ketplace for Chinese shoppersseeking luxury western goods.Through onewebsite, consumers inChina can buy frommultiple storesand check out one shopping cartwith one shipping fee.“This is the kind of support that
will give us a competitive edge,”said Lam, who has a team of four.She is about to close an £850,000fundraising, money that will helpMihaibao link customers in Chinawith its 128westernbrands. “I hopethe exposure gets us national sup-port, not only from the governmentbut from the royals. This will allowus to build trust with our cus-tomers,” said Lam.Mutaz Qubbaj is still reaping the
rewards of his Pitch@Palace win inNovember. “It putus on the radarofinvestorswedidn’tknowand ledusto raise more money than antici-pated,” said Qubbaj, co-founder ofSquirrel, an online platform thatworks with companies to provideemployeeswithafinancialmanage-ment system. Users manage theirfundswith budgeting tools.Since his win, Qubbaj has
expanded his team from three tonine. He has just finalised an£800,000 fundraising.“We have tapped into the duke’s
contacts. His team has been forth-coming with introductions,” saidQubbaj,36,whowonamonthinSil-icon Valley courtesy of the start-upaccelerator Wayra. Squirrel is cur-rently based at the accelerator’sLondon offices and will receiveabout £40,000 (in exchange forequity) viaWayra.You don’t have to take top prize
to benefit from Pitch@Palace. In
November, JoachimHorn, 23,was arunner-up with SAM Labs, whichdevelops kits to help children learnto integrate engineering and theinternet.Kitsincludemotors,lights,switches and sensors that connectvia an app. They sell for £89-£235.
“After Pitch@Palace we wereinvited to Davos, the economicforum, where I spoke to educationleaders,” said Horn. “We have hadso much support from the duke’steam, from advice to contacts.They’re absolutely brilliant.”
TheDuke of York is backing buddingentrepreneurswith funds, contactsand support, reportsKiki Loizou
Start-ups win byroyal appointment
A win at tomorrow’s Pitch@Palace will give Georgina Nelson’s customer rating business a valuable boost
VICKI COUCHMAN
ELAINE FAIRFAX’S father was apianist with a love of animals. “Healways gave half his meal away toour cats,” she recalled about herfather Frank Booth, a leadingarranger for music publishers inLondon’s Tin PanAlley and for sev-eral bands.Fairfax,60, inheritedher father’s
passion for pets, which led her andher husband Chris to set up AnimalFriends, a pet insurer that has givenmore than £2m to animal charitiessince 2000. “Anyone passionateabout animals would rather theirmoney did some good than dis-appear into a faceless corporation,”she said.Since it was founded in 1998,
Animal Friends has sold more than400,000 policies. Gross premiumshave risen from £3m in 2008 to£45.5m in 2013.Its growth earned the Wiltshire
company a place in The SundayTimes Fast Track 100 list of the fast-est-growing private businesses. In2013Animal Friends generated rev-enues of £11.7m and gave £500,000to charity from profits of £2m.Born in Brighton, Fairfax is the
second of three sisters with one
elder brother. The family moved toThornton Heath, near Croydon,when she was four to cut the com-mute to London. Her mother was ahousewife.Fairfax left Norbury Manor
SchoolforGirlsinsouthLondonat15withnoqualifications“except somehorse-riding exams”. Her first jobwas as a General Post Office tele-phone operator in London. Shehopped between secretarial jobsbefore getting work with the For-mula One team Trojan Racing in1974.“Unfortunately theymanagedonly one season, but it was anamazing experience.”
Fairfax left Trojan to work for aFord dealership in Croydon for twoyears before joining Ranks HovisMcDougall in its transport depart-ment.When theofficewasclosed in1980shemovedontomanagetrans-port fleets for British Gas.Shemet her husband in 1984 at a
riding stables in Croydon, and theymarried two years later. Chris, asolicitor and barrister, set up a legalpractice in Poole, Dorset, in 1990,specialising in the marine leisuresector. Elaine joined that year,becoming practicemanager.The couple sold the firm in 2000
to concentrate on Animal Friends.They moved to West Sussex andploughed £120,000 into the fledg-ling business.“Wewere treading water for two
years, trying to get the business offtheground,”saidFairfax,whois themanaging director. “We went forbroke, took huge loans and sold oursouls living off credit cards— it wasa pretty desperate time but wealways had the belief AnimalFriendswouldwork.”The insurer offers seven different
policies for dogs, cats and horses,including lifetime cover for condi-
tions such as arthritis. “To behonest, allpet insurancepoliciesarefairly similar,” said Fairfax. “Westand out because we give so muchto charity.”The recipients of her largesse
include the Born Free Foundation,World Horse Welfare, the RSPCAand Whale and Dolphin Conserva-tion. In December, Fairfax, dressedas Santa, drove around the countrygiving out cheques totalling£150,000. “Winter is a tough timefor any charity,” she said.“Helping animals comes first but
it is important to support thepeoplemucking out horses or feedinghedgehogs on Christmas Day. Theyneed a pat on the back.”Animal Friends is one of the big-
gest pet insurance providers inBritain, alongside the likes of Tescoand Sainsbury’s. Fairfax is aimingfor top spot. In June last year shebought office buildings in Ames-bury,Wiltshire, andhas permissionto build twomore on the site.IT systems are a priority for her
business. “Technology is changingevery second. It’s a huge job to stayaheadofthemarket.Youcan’tstandstill,” she said.
Last year, Fairfax introducedPawtal, which cuts the need forpolicyholders to fill in a claim formby processing information straightfrom the vet.Shehasalsohiredmorecustomer
servicestaff.“I takecustomerinter-action very seriously. I want to runthis business theway Iwould like tobe treated.”If aclaimant’spetdies shesendsa
handwrittenletterofcondolence.“Ilove to write and it brings somecomfort to the owner.”Sheowns60%ofAnimalFriends.
The private equity investor CV6bought the balance in 2008.Fairfax’s great extravagance is
the1942Spitfiresheisrestoring.Theplane,calledMabel,maybereadytofly later this year. She andChris, 57,live in Shaftesbury, Dorset.Her advice to entrepreneurs is:
“Be realistic about your achieve-ments, stay focused and believe inwhat you want to do. And ensureyou have the support of family andfriends: nothing is worse thanleaving a busy day at the office onlyto receive grief at home.”
Hattie Williams
Elaine FairfaxFounder ofAnimal Friends
ST DIGITALWatch young entrepreneurspitching their ideasat St James’s Palace
thesundaytimes.co.uk/business
Pet insurer that pledges some of the profits go to the dogs
truRating: consumer reviewsCocoon: home securityOpendesk: furniture designJukedeck: customised musicI Can Make: content for 3D printersImmerse Learning: 3D trainingKuato Studios: educational gamesMagic Pony Technology: video compressionPlotbox: cloud solution for old recordsFormisimo: web analyticsGrabble: fashion appMihaibao: market for Chinese shoppersHello Soda: financial data analysisSkignz: app for real-time offers Prince Andrew takes a selfie at one of the palace pitches
Pitch@Palaceshortlist
Elaine Fairfax’s company has given more than £2m to animal charities