Lycetts, the UK’s premier countryside insurance broker, and The Field magazine have announced the five entries short-listed who will meet with judges on September 9 and battle it out to become the Young Rural Entrepreneur of 2008.

In its second year, the competition has once again paid tribute to the efforts of young people across the UK combining a passion for the countryside with a good brain for business. Entries this year ranged included organic farms, specialist food production, sustainable building, conservation schemes and environmental services.

The short-listed finalists are Ali Clabburn, Emily Hammick, Thomas Hick, Geraint Hughes and Philip Price.

Clabburn, 33, set up a social enterprise in 1997 called Liftshare, which was the first car-sharing scheme of its kind anywhere in the world. The company now has more than 57 million trips registered over the next 12 months.

Hammick, 30, bought The European Inn in Dorset in 2007 and just six months after buying the inn, and overseeing its restoration, it was named as Dining Pub of the Year by Taste of the West. Building on her success with emphasis on local seasonal food from the West Country, Hammick has now bought another pub, the Gaggle and Goose, five miles away from the inn.

Hick, 27, spotted the opportunity for micro brewing in Northumberland and set out to achieve an MSc from Sunderland University’s Brew-Lab before setting up Allendale Brewing Company and brewing his first beer on Valentine’s Day in 2006. The company has just completed their 125th batch and it is the first commercial brewing company in Allendale since 1887.

Hughes, 29, has launched three separate businesses over the last three years. He set up his first commercial venture, Madryn, in October 2005, which is a consultancy offering a range of technical expertise in alternative cropping, functional food and bioenergy.

The following year, Hughes launched Calon Lan first company to sell cold pressed Camelina Oil. He also opened a local deli with his brothers in Pwllheli, and a second deli will open in August 2008 under the same name, Bwtri, in the busy town of Porthmadog.

Price, 28, set up Loch Visions, a day wildlife and digital photography experience, on his family’s redundant small holding of woodland in Argyll. In his third year of business, Price is predicting 45 per cent growth in 2008 on last year at a difficult time for the tourism industry.

Those short-listed will present to a panel of judges in London which will include: Financial Times journalist and rural commentator, Heather McGregor; food entrepreneur, Charles Bigham; Jonathan Young, editor of The Field; Angus Keate, chief executive of Lycetts; and Charles Seymour, managing director of Lycetts Rural Division.

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