Brush Baby Is The Nectar Business Award Winner

A company from Ovington that produces and sells a range of dental products for babies, including chewable first baby toothbrushes, has been highly commended for the Nectar Business Innovation of the Year, judged by a panel of leading business figures, including UK business woman and star of BBC 1’s The Apprentice, Karren Brady.

Dominique Tillen, the company’s founder, entered Brush-Baby into the Innovation of the Year category at the Nectar Business Small Business Awards and impressed the judges so much they decided to highly commend them, earning the company 50,000 Nectar points and a seat at a prestigious business round table event with Karren Brady.

Brush-Baby was inspired by Dominique’s baby girl, Lulu, who constantly chewed her toothbrush. Unable to find a product that addressed this problem on the market and following much research, Dominique decided to invent one of her own. Following the success of the Chewable Bristles Toothbrush, Dominique extended the range to six novel products including baby dental wipes and xylitol and fluoride best baby toothpastes, which are stocked in a range of high street retailers including Waitrose, John Lewis, Mothercare and Sainsbury’s.

Lead judge, Karren Brady comments: “Brush-Baby is a very inspirational company. Creating a work/life balance is hard enough, but finding the time to start a business while looking after a young daughter is a monumental task. Dominique has built a fantastic company by using her own experiences and a lot of courage.

“As a member of the Nectar Business Small Business Awards judging panel, I was truly inspired by last year’s entrants, but this year’s have been even better! These awards are a great recognition of all the hard work and dedication these businesses and their employees put in every day, a commitment which should be rewarded.”

Dominique Tillen says, “I’m so proud of how well we have done. Having Brush-Baby recognised by the likes of Karren Brady and the rest of the Nectar Business judging panel is fantastic. I’m so pleased with the advice Karren gave me on finding the right investment partner, it’s brilliant to have had access to someone like her to get advice on the business.”

James Frost, Marketing Director at Nectar adds: “The Nectar Business Small Business Awards are now in their fourth year and this year the competition has been tougher than ever, with a very high standard of entries across all six categories. The diversity of entries has been remarkable and it’s fantastic to see businesses from such different fields being awarded a Nectar Business Small Business Award. From a liquid nitrogen ice cream company to an on-site shredding company, the awards show that with dedication and a great idea an award winning business can be created."

Awards Details:-

• Innovation of the Year (Highly Commended)
• Name: Dominique Tillen
• Title: Founder
• Company name: Brush-Baby (Highly commended)
• Company description: Baby dental products producer and retailer
• Location: Ovington
• Entry synopsis: Mum-preneur, Dominique invented a unique chewable toothbrush for babies and toddlers after her own toddler, Lulu kept chewing through her toothbrush. Following the success of the Chewable Baby Toothbrush, Dominique extended the range to six novel products for oral care from 0-6 years old, including Dental Wipes for babies aged 0-16months and xylitol and fluoride Childrens Toothpastes, which are stocked in a range of high street retailers including Waitrose, John Lewis, Mothercare and Sainsbury’s.
• Judges comments:"Very inspirational. Working around a family." Karren Brady

About Nectar Business and the Small Business Awards

THE NECTAR BUSINESS SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS

• The Nectar Business Small Business Awards are now in its fourth year
• There are six categories in the Nectar Business Small Business of the Year Awards 2012. The Contribution to the Community Award is judged by a public vote via the Nectar Business Facebook page. All other categories are judged by The Nectar Business judging panel, including:
  
  
  • Leading business woman and star of BBC1’s The Apprentice, Karren Brady
  • Nectar Business Small Business of the Year 2011: Entrepreneur of the Year and CEO of Swimovate, Lisa Irlam
  • Business journalist, Guy Clapperton
  • Nectar Business Marketing Director, James Frost

NECTAR BUSINESS

• Launched in January 2005, Nectar Business has over 600,000 business collectors
• Nectar Business partners include: Viking, Dulux Decorator Centres, Brakes, BOC, Hertz, American Express and DHL Express
• Collect points online with over 500 retailers - including Amazon.co.uk, Argos, trainline.com, Dell, PC World Business, McAfee, Pixmania and Viking
• Other Nectar partners include: Sainsbury’s, BP, Homebase, British Gas, Ford, Vision Express and easyJet