VPM win £4000 in Beyond Bricks national final

Hillington Park Innovation Centre based e-commerce business pick up elevator pitch prize at Internet World exhibition.

Virtual Property Market (VPM), was given the title of runner-up at the recent Beyond Bricks competition to find the unofficial “best Internet start-up business in the UK” for their e-tendering product www.virtualpropertymarket.co.uk

The event, sponsored by Fast Future, took place at Internet World UK, Earls Court, London, last week. Over 200 companies entered the competition from across the UK, and 9 companies made it to the final.

Alongside prize money of £2000 VPM were awarded £2000 of professional services consultancy from the sponsors Fast Future; first prize was picked up by Audio Network from London.

Neil Howlin, judging the final on behalf of Beyond Bricks said: “It’s a real boost for the Internet start-up world to see so many top class digital entrepreneurs in the same room together. These finalists are just the tip of the iceberg and we have been staggered by the quantity and quality of start-up concepts right across the UK.

“We were looking for our winners to demonstrate a good knowledge of the target market, to have already demonstrated initiative, and to have put together a good team of strong individuals who would work well together. Each entrant fulfilled these criteria, making it extremely difficult to pick the best two. Every one of these concepts deserves a bright future and we are sure that this will be a springboard for them all to go on to greater things.”

John Costello, director of the Virtual Property Market, said: “This is a great win for us against stiff opposition. 2001 might have been a difficult year to launch a new business in e-commerce, but we’ve done it, won clients and the support of the property and facilities management sector; and are now delighted to receive this prize. This is an excellent achievement and only enhances our recent win at the Scottish Property Awards where we were given the prestigious title of Property Innovation of the Year 2002.”

VPM launched in May last year with the remit of providing an innovative new e-tendering software solution for the property and facilities management industry. Founded by former chartered surveyors John Costello, Brendan Morris and Andy Taylor, VPM aims to streamline the tendering process and reduce costs for its clients, while exposing supplier companies to new business opportunities.

John Costello added: “It has been a challenge to convince the property and facilities management industry that ecommerce will benefit their current traditional work practices, not only in terms of cost and resource savings, but also in terms of knowledge management, but we are now seeing a massive shift in the industry”

To-date, Virtual Property Market has secured 19 clients to post tenders on their system and over 550 suppliers to bid for these tenders.

Beyond Bricks (www.beyondbricks.com) - the DTI-backed definitive portal for Internet entrepreneurs – was launched by then Minister for e-Commerce and Competitiveness Douglas Alexander in September 2001. The project has toured the UK for the last twelve months, holding a series of regional heats of the competition to encourage early-stage e-entrepreneurs and offer a leg-up to making their concept into a business reality.

Issued by the Virtual Property Market

Further information from Anna-Marie Taylor on 0141 585 6390 or annamarie@virtualpropertymarket.co.uk