UK's Smartest 100 Small Businesses Unveiled – Isomob (FlirtFinder) Named as a Winner!

Smarta.com and O2 present the UK’s most dynamic and innovative small businesses.

• FlirtFinder was selected as one of the final 100 and also as one of the 5 finalists in the technology category.
• The competition: designer light bulbs, a non-spill potty, erotic novels where the reader stars, a pillow for long-distance lovers, virtual gifts and non-tooth pulling toffee.
• Essential stats: 45% of winners are female with an overall average age of just 33. Revenues total £65,000,000 with an average turnover of £692,000.
• Deborah’s in! Dragons’ Den’s Deborah Meaden lauds ‘brilliant businesses run by people who deserve our recognition and support’.

Smarta.com and O2 have today named Isomob as a winner of the 2011 Smarta 100 awards: its collection of the UK’s savviest, enterprising, most disruptive small businesses.

Voting is now under way to find the overall O2 Smarta 100 Business of the Year, winning £10,000 courtesy of O2.

This year’s Smarta 100 provides a fascinating snapshot of UK small business today: a cross-section of ingenious new ideas, individuals seeking self-employment after redundancy, the innovators of the cloud and crowd and the fast-growth big businesses of tomorrow.

FlirtFinder is an innovative fun dating site specifically designed to be used on your mobile.

Beyond this, there are 99 other businesses, all battling it out for the title of O2 Smarta 100 Business of the Year. From the weird and wonderful world of non-spill potties, pillows for long-distance lovers and non-tooth pulling toffee, to market changers like crowd-powered wine dealer Naked Wines, parcel innovator MyParcelDelivery.com and fast-growing retailer WedgeWelly, innovation and entrepreneurship are alive and well in Britain.

Many of this year’s winners have triumphed through adversity. Take Camille Johnson, who set up Pink Ribbon Lingerie after her mother’s experiences struggling to find attractive mastectomy lingerie. Or Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes, who used their £20,000 redundancy pay-off from Woolworths to set up toy retailer Toy Barnhaus, now turning over £1.4million from three stores.

Proving the crucial role small businesses have to play in the future recovery of the UK economy, Smarta 100 revenues total over £65,000,000 with an average turnover of £692,000. They’re contributing more to the nation’s coffers than they’re borrowing too, with over half (51%) entirely self-funded.

On average, they are three years and two months old. They employ a total of 740 people, with 9% employing a staff of more than 20. Smarta 100 businesses tend to be running lean operations however, with a growing shift to virtual teams and networks of freelancers – 79% employ fewer than 10 people and 68% fewer than five.

The Smarta 100 also tells us about the people behind Britain’s brightest small businesses. This year’s winners are 55% male, 45% female, aged between 18 and 52 with an average of 33.

Commenting on their inclusion in the Smarta 100, Managing Director Justin Battell said:

“We are delighted to have been recognised by the Smarta 100 judges. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved in the last few years and to have made it into the top 5 for technology given the standard of competition is fantastic.”

Commenting on this year’s Smarta 100 winners, Dragons’ Den star and Smarta board member Deborah Meaden – who wasn’t part of the judging process - said:

“This year’s Smarta 100 has uncovered some superb small businesses, many of which I’ll admit I’d never heard of but have enjoyed discovering and am very much looking forward to meeting.

“What pleases me is that these awards are championing passionate and ambitious people with brilliant ideas who’ve acted on those ideas and turned them into flourishing businesses. These small businesses and individuals are hugely important and deserve our recognition and support.”

Simon Devonshire, General Manager, SMB for O2, said:

“The SMBs that have made the final shortlist are testimony to the dynamism and variety of businesses that are operating and flourishing in the UK. O2 supports young companies such as this that are looking to make a name for themselves by offering them flexible communications packages. It will be fascinating to find out which companies win the categories and the O2 Award, which will act as a springboard for future growth.”

Smarta founder Shaa Wasmund added:

“The quality of entries for this year’s Smarta 100 was ridiculously high. If anyone ever tries to tell you the UK lacks an enterprise or entrepreneurial mindset, point them to this list.

“We’re hugely proud of this year’s award winners. I’ve every confidence a significant percentage will double in size by the time we announce the 2012 winners!”

To view the full 2011 Smarta 100 winners list (including the special awards), visit: www.smarta.com/100