Evaluation of the first round of a scheme to give employers control of government training funds.

• Regions, universities and businesses including Teesside University, Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Hounslow Chamber of Commerce and Fife Council honoured for excellence
• Awards form part of the UK Government’s drive to create prosperous communities across the UK through modern Industrial Strategy

Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst today (Friday September 21) named the winners of this year’s Enterprising Britain Awards.

Fife in Scotland has been named the UK’s most enterprising region and other top accolades have gone to Darwen Aldridge Community Academy in Lancashire, Teesside University, Hounslow Chamber of Commerce and Fife Council.

Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst said:

I’m proud to see a wealth of talent, creativity and innovation across the UK being recognised at the Enterprising Britain Awards. Entrepreneurialism is thriving in the UK, with more than 1,000 businesses starting up every day.

Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are boosting productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the UK with investment in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.

UK Government Minister Lord Duncan said:

Businesses in Fife have proved they can compete with – and beat – the best in Britain. I’m delighted that Fife has been named the Most Enterprising Place in Britain.

The UK Government is supporting their enterprising spirit. Our modern Industrial Strategy helps to ensure that businesses across Scotland and the UK are supported and continue to thrive. The UK Government is also working with the Scottish Government to ensure that all regions of Scotland, including Fife, are covered by a city deal such as Tay Cities.

The Awards celebrate the work of public sector and UK Government-backed organisations that support and encourage entrepreneurial spirit, with entrants competing in four categories – Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit, Building Enterprise Skills, Improving the Business Environment and Support for Exporting with the overall winner receiving the title of the Most Enterprising Place in Britain.

Regions across the UK competed for the coveted title of Most Enterprising Place in Britain at the fifteenth Enterprising Britain Awards, with Fife awarded the top honour this year. In addition to the Most Enterprising Place in Britain award, Fife Council won the Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit category for its achievements which included supporting young people to develop entrepreneurial skills, get into education, training or employment and creating an environment and programmes that are helping businesses grow.

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy in Lancashire won the Building Enterprise Skills category and Teesside University won the Improving the Business Environment category. Hounslow Chamber of Commerce’s West London Export Club won the Support for Exporting category. Lambeth Council and Hull City Council’s MC4C (Making Changes for Careers) project were highly commended by judges.

Fife Council’s co-leaders, Cllr David Alexander and Cllr David Ross, said:

These awards show what can be achieved by applying an innovative approach to supporting businesses. We are fully committed to continually improving the prospects for our young workforce and in supporting the growth of enterprise across Fife.

We are delighted that Fife is rightfully getting recognition for creating an excellent environment to support our business community to develop and grow, which, in turn, are creating quality opportunities for our local communities.

Fife Council and its business partners continue to work tirelessly to create fairer economic growth, where everyone benefits, provide good employment opportunities and secure investment in the region.

Fife is playing a key part in developing two city deals in Scotland: Edinburgh and South East Scotland; and the Tay Cities. The UK Government, working with the Scottish Government and local partners, remains on track to agree a city deal with all 7 of Scotland’s great cities.

The award winners will be formally recognised at the Enterprising Britain Awards ceremony which will be held at a House of Commons reception on October 30.

The winners are:

Promoting Entrepreneurial Spirit

Winner – Supporting Fife’s Entrepreneurial Journey – Fife Council

Building Enterprise Skills

Winner – Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, Lancashire.

Highly commended – MC4C (Making Changes for Careers) – Hull City Council

Improving the Business Environment

Winner – Teesside University

Highly commended – London Borough of Lambeth

Support for Exporting

Winner – Hounslow Chamber of Commerce West London Export Club

Most Enterprising Place in Britain – Fife Council

In August:

• HM Land Registry completed more than 1,746,970 applications to change or query the Land Register
• The South East topped the table of regional applications with 402,692

HM Land Registry completed 1,746,974 applications in August compared with 1,794,855 in July and 1,671,917 last August, of which:

• 393,233 were applications for register updates compared with 408,138 in July
• 838,122 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 860,123 in July
• 226,859 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 231,386 in July
• 27,275 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 27,245 in July

Applications by region and country

Region/country	June applications	July applications	August applications
South East	391,741	412,457	402,692
Greater London	324,861	342,764	327,388
North West	189,790	199,371	196,595
South West	166,626	175,922	173,062
West Midlands	146,855	153,247	149,801
Yorkshire and the Humber	128,441	138,612	135,462
East Midlands	121,551	129,991	125,704
North	79,945	84,004	82,370
Wales	77,307	81,079	81,297
East Anglia	74,017	77,226	72,476
Isles of Scilly	66	109	52
England and Wales (not assigned)	72	73	75
Total	1,701,272	1,794,855	1,746,974

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 local authority areas	June applications	Top 5 local authority areas	July applications	Top 5 local authority areas	August applications
Birmingham	25,724	Birmingham	27,538	Birmingham	26,892
City of Westminster	23,468	City of Westminster	22,955	City of Westminster	23,912
Leeds	19,257	Leeds	21,258	Leeds	20,833
Cornwall	17,591	Cornwall	18,581	Cornwall	18,367
Manchester	16,765	Manchester	18,026	Manchester	17,578

Top 5 customers

Top 5 customers	June applications	Top 5 customers	July applications	Top 5 customers	August applications
Enact	53,868	Enact	55,674	Enact	56,544
Infotrack Limited	29,175	Infotrack Limited	30,027	Infotrack Limited	30,749
O’Neill Patient	26,523	O’Neill Patient	28,146	O’Neill Patient	27,267
Optima Legal Services	26,239	Optima Legal Services	26,763	Optima Legal Services	24,984
TM Group (UK) Ltd	21,465	TM Group (UK) Ltd	24,461	Eversheds LLP	20,019

The monthly Transaction Data shows how many applications for new titles, leases, splitting titles, updating existing titles, official copies of the register and search and hold queries (official searches) were received.

Next publication

Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The September Transaction Data will be published at 11am on Friday 19 October 2018.

Published 21 September 2018