Greater Manchester businesswomen named among Britain’s top Black entrepreneurs

A Manchester robot specialist and a Salford children's entertainment creator have been named as Britain’s top Black entrepreneurs.

KPMG has announced the four winners of its annual Black Entrepreneurs’ Awards, which have been held every year since 2018 and aim to identify the country’s most exciting business leaders. The winners were chosen from more than 150 entrants in areas from AI to retail and from recruitment to education.

Each winner will receive £25,000 to invest in their business or to donate to the charity or community project of their choice, while all finalists can join a KPMG acceleration programme “designed to support Black heritage entrepreneurs and their businesses to grow”.

The award for most promising large business was won by Ayaan Mohamed, founder of Manchester’s Digitech Oasis. Her business develops autonomous mobile robots and AI systems to help retailers and warehouse operators work more efficiently.

She said: “It feels amazing to win, it means a lot to the company, a company that has come so far in the last four years. In terms of accelerating growth, hardware is very capital intensive so we need support. I think it will propel us to do greater things.”

The award for most promising medium-sized business went to Anita Frost, founder of Green Bean Studios in Salford. The eco-conscious children’s entertainment brand aims to “empowers children globally to play, learn and go on fun adventures”.

Anita said: “I’m so excited to have won this KPMG award, it’s going to propel Green Bean, the team and the brand into new spaces. I’m particularly really excited about the partnership with K