I’m delighted to share that I’ve / we’ve been nominated for the ‘Ecosystem Growth & Opportunity Award‘ at the ClimbAwards 2026 (part of the ClimbUK festival taking place in Leeds in July)! ⭐️
Here’s why I’d LOVE you to vote for me…
For the past 10yrs, I’ve personally advised, supported, promoted & championed thousands of entrepreneurs, business owners & leaders across the UK but with a particular focus on the ecosystem in the North East of England & Teesside (& more recently a bit of Scotland).
After running 3 x 5-day, multi-venue Newcastle Startup Week festivals in 2017, 2018 & 2019 for 600, 600 & 800 people respectively, 20 x Founders’ Friday events (& 2 x online events for 300 people each in 2020), I shifted my focus to 1-2-1 coaching & mentoring of business owners & leaders & then spent 2yrs in tech recruitment (don’t hate me as I was still helping businesses to grow by finding the talent they needed & continued to advise, support & champion startups in my spare time)! 😂
I then left recruitment to launch my popular, monthly PLATFORM events in Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough & Edinburgh in January 2024 which have been attended by 2,000+ different people so far. I also ran the awesome 5-day, multi-venue UK Startup & Scaleup Week festival in Sunderland for 420 delegates in June last year & continue to help people start & grow their business on a daily basis through my in-person & online activities.
All this while juggling family life with my wonderful partner Katie, our 4 brilliant kids, a puppy & a cat ❤️🙏
To vote for me, all you have to do is:
1. Go to https://bit.ly/ClimbAwards
2. Click / tap on my name & business name ‘PAUL LANCASTER Stellar Business Events Limited‘ (currently in the top right on desktop or 3rd down on mobile)
3. Once selected, make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the page to hit the ‘Submit Votes’ button (where you just enter your email, name & company / organisation name)
Thank you in advance & wish me luck! Let’s win this for the North East of England & Teesside! 🙏⭐️
Thank you in advance!
Paul Lancaster
Founder & Event Producer
PLATFORM | UK Startup & Scaleup Week
Stellar Business Events Limited
https://platformevents.ai
https://ukstartupweek.com