ONE OF the major criticisms levelled against the UK and the City of London in recent years has been a lack of interest in startups and venture investing. A lack of tolerance for risk has been blamed for the problem, but one of Europe's most prolific founders disagrees with that view.

"There's a lot of tendency to bash the UK economy and eco-system for startups," Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (pictured) told City

A.M.," but I think the eco-system is far better than Europe."

Stelios has more experience than most when it comes to comparing the business environment in the UK to the rest of the world.

The Greek Cypriot entrepreneur is best known for founding Easyjet, but he has also helped hundreds of other businesses get off the ground, mostly via partnerships with the

Easygroup, which owns the rights to the Easy brand.

However, despite his broad range of business interests, Stelios said he does not consider himself a serial entrepreneur.

"I think the term 'serial entrepreneur' can be misunderstood. It sounds like we're starting a business, closing it down and then starting again. We're not doing that."

Instead, Stelios said he likes to think of himself as a business manager who's in the "business of managing one business; that's the Easy brand."

Stelios spoke to City A.M. following the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation's inaugural Young Entrepreneurs' Awards, which were designed to help the UK's most promising startups with an infusion of cash and advice from the Easygroup founder.

This year's winners were picked from a pool of 52 UK-based businesses and shared a pot of £300,000 in cash prizes. Every entrant had to be under 35 and have been running a registered company in the last five years with an ownership stake of more than 50 per cent.

The biggest grant was awarded to Amelia Christie-Miller's Bold Bean Co. Tom Ushakov, of the London Pregnancy Clinic took home the second prize, while

Charlotte Stavrou nee Williams's Sevensix Agency took the last grant (all pictured).

(c) 2024 City A.M., source Newspaper