21 year old from Aylesbury wins Young Innovator Award for zero-waste business
Innovator UK and The Prince's Trust have announced their 2021 award winners
Last updated 16th Jan 2021
The 21 year old from Aylesbury has won a national award for her business.
Daisy Bailes, 21 from Aylesbury, is one of this year's Young Innovator Award winners for her business Wild Daisy.
The awards are run by Innovate UK and The Prince's Trust and Daisy, along with the other winners will get a £5,000 grant, one-to-one business coaching and an allowance to cover living costs.
Daisy set up her business to combat the issue of fast fashion, and now runs a zero-waste denim clothing line:
"When I won the award honestly it was a real 'Yes!' fist-pumping running around the house moment.
"I wasn't going to let on about how much I wanted it just in case I didn't get it but I was just counting down the days until the winners were announced.
"It's also just a confidence boost to know that they believed in my project enough to fund it.
"It is such a relief that I can dedicate all my time to it now and it is such a great opportunity."
The Young Innovators Awards recognise young people from across the UK with great business ideas who have the potential to become successful entrepreneurs and future leaders in innovation.
This year saw an unprecedented level of entries, with an 87% increase in applications year-on-year, because of this double the number of award winners are starting 2021 with this boost than previous years.
Emily Nott, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Innovate UK says:
"With 2020 proving to be an incredibly difficult year, maintaining our focus on Young Innovators was a priority for Innovate UK since finding the great entrepreneurial minds of the future is more important than ever.
"Working alongside this year's winners, Innovate UK will help them grow and develop their business idea to make the world a better, and more innovative place. We can't wait to see what they achieve this year."
For Daisy, one of the most important things is to believe in what you do:
"If you have an idea and you love it, then I am pretty sure someone else will to.
"I started to making my clothes because I wanted to wear them and they were missing from my wardrobe.
"When I started showing them to other people they loved them, but because I loved them first."