TestTown- Seeking creative ideas to help save the high street
by Startacus Admin
Now a little treat for the self-starter aged 16-30 looking to exercise their innovative muscles - the annual TestTown challenge is back with another round of high street enterprise opportunities available up and down the UK…here’s the low down.
The Problem
The great British high street has been on something of a low in recent years with the changing shopping habits of the public being largely blamed for the downturn of fortunes for this icon of national life - it’s a rather sorry state of affairs. One of the most pressing issues facing local authorities, and indeed the locals themselves, is the high proportion of retail premises which are now unoccupied. They create huge gaps in once prime town centre locations and further deter potential shoppers who increasingly favour the abundance of choice available online and in out of town retail complexes.
The Challenge
In a nutshell, you are being asked to come up with an innovative and enterprising business idea which could fill one of the gaps on a British high street. Unlike many comparable competitions out there the main focus of TestTown is not to make as much money as possible, but to come up with an innovative, creative and inspiring idea that has the potential to change the way in which people use their local town centres. Essentially, rather than simply moaning about the problem and hoping it goes away, young innovators are being asked to come up with proactive ideas to reinvigorate our town centres… seems like a far more sensible idea!
So who can apply ?
- An individual or groups aged 16-30, with a maximum of 4 people per team
- Those living within the UK or Republic of Ireland
- Those with years of business experience or none at all
- Those looking to sell goods, provide services, or demonstrate new products
- People with an idea for a charity or a business
The ideas will be put forward to a panel of ‘experts’ who will shortlist applicants to go forward to the final round of the competition which will see one team win £10K startup funding… as well as the sense of pride which comes from helping to reinvent the British High Street.
The competition is being run by the CarnegieUK Trust which seeks to improve the lives and wellbeing of people throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland through influencing public policy and demonstrating innovative practice.
The closing date for applications is 16th April so thinking caps at the ready! For a spot of inspiration, or just to pass the time why not take a little gander at some of these recent retail posts!
Pop at House of Fraser- A showcase opportunity for fashion startups
The Shopify Build a business competition
Mr Quiffy- The move around popup shop
If you like what you see here on Startacus, why not become a member of our growing community? It's free! And you'll get all this - exclusive access to our Business Toolkit, discounts and offers galore for your business via our member only business deals, the chance to network and connect with loads of fellow self-starters, and maybe even become our celebrated 'Self-Starter of the Week' and tell the world your startup tale! Join right here for free...
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
The insolvency technology startup secures funding to help support the UK's most vulnerable consumers to avoid bankruptcy
Darren Hockley, MD of Delta International on how millennials may be helping businesses face the current COVID-19 pandemic
The innovative startup that's enabling businesses to connect with their customers via personalised handwritten communication
Software has become a powerful tool for businesses to harness. here are 4 software essentials your startup could adopt right now.
The Dublin-based MedTech company that is enabling remote monitoring of those with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms who are in self-isolation
The new FinTech platform that provides “the easy way to sell your unused and unwanted foreign cash currency at the best rates”.
In order to combat some of the impact caused by the coronavirus, many tourism focused attractions are turning to tech solutions. Here's a few!
The Trinity College spinout that has created a cost-effective hand hygiene training system teaching the WHO technique…
The lowdown on Budget Music Videos, the Belfast-based startup that will help you make a music video in a matter of minutes
BMW’s Innovation Lab next two sprints focuses on improving internal customer-led efficiencies or tech solutions that provide valuable data insights and analytics
Published on: 21st March 2014
.png)
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Cerebreon the Irish deep learning startup raises £1.5m in seed funding 31st Mar 2020 The insolvency technology startup secures funding to help support the UK's most vulnerable consumers to avoid bankruptcy
- Chivas Venture divides this year's $1m Venture Fund between 26 global Startups 23rd Mar 2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chivas Divides its $1m No-Strings Venture Fund Between 26 Startups
- The open-source design of emergency ventilators for COVID-19 patients 20th Mar 2020 World Wide Community of over 500 designers engineers & medics finalising prototypes for safe scalable manufacture & rapid field deployment..
- Positive-ish reaction from small business and startup community to UK Chancellor’s Corona budget 11th Mar 2020 New UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak just delivered his first UK Budget. We took a look at first reactions from small business and startup leaders.
