Adam Jacobs, founder of Gateshead-based, Bloom Procurement Services, has been recognised as one of this year’s most exceptional business leaders at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022 Grand Final.
Adam won Disrupter of the Year for the North East region.
Recognised as one of the fastest growing marketplaces for buying services in the UK, Bloom specialises in bringing together a community of 439 public sector organisations and 4,405 suppliers to help the public sector buy and manage services in a compliant, efficient and effective way. Bloom’s fully compliant open access marketplace, is outcomes-based, meaning the public sector only pays for what is delivered, achieving, on average, savings of 14%. Bloom aims to give the best choice for its clients and open more business opportunities for suppliers, big or small. Since 2019, £358 million has been awarded and paid to local suppliers with over £109 million of social value created.
The Awards, in partnership with Starling Bank, have recognised the UK’s most inspiring entrepreneurial success stories for a decade and developed a community-oriented network of alumni which grows year on year.
The ceremony was held at Grosvenor House in London and saw 1,400 entrepreneurs and colleagues join together to celebrate a collective £2 billion generated in turnover and over 17,000 jobs.
Adam is among 12 entrepreneurs who went home with prizes in categories from Health & Beauty and Sustainability to Family Business and the overall Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which was won by Jordan Brompton of myenergi Ltd.
Adam said: “I describe myself as a bootstrapping entrepreneur. Following an early career as a management consultant with a well-known household name, for the last 22 years I have been taking ideas to market with my own resources, building products, services, solutions, acquiring customers, providing employment and developing brands.
“I only do what I believe in and my core values drive me towards the goal of improving society. I want to build businesses that create life chances for young people, that level playing fields and create opportunities for SMEs. All this drives value for taxpayers and stimulates regional economies, encouraging innovation and reducing waste.
“I set up Bloom Procurement Services to do exactly that. I had a vision of a dynamic marketplace for the public sector that trades in “outcomes” rather than “inputs”. My starting point and entire philosophy are grounded around the “commissioning question” of what outcomes are we looking to deliver?”
Great British Entrepreneur Awards founder, Francesca James, said: “Celebrating Britain’s ambitious, driven and inspirational entrepreneurs for a decade has been an honour, and we’ve learnt so much from hearing all of their unique stories and perspectives.
“The extraordinary circumstances of the last few years have tested the resilience of our business communities, and the challenges were enough to give many entrepreneurs an excuse to give up. Instead, our award winners did the opposite and through ingenuity, innovation and the ability to adapt, they thrived.
“These challenges certainly haven’t gone away, and the next few years will present new obstacles to overcome – but one only needed to look around the room at our tenth anniversary to see some of the truly special founders and doers, to gain confidence that this snapshot of the economy can go on and adapt again.
“We’d like to congratulate all of our 2022 winners for all of their hard work and achievements – we look forward to following your lead into 2023 and beyond!”
Anne Boden MBE, Founder of Starling Bank, headline partner of the Awards, said: “Entrepreneurs up and down the country across so many different industries have shown just how innovative and resilient they have been in these uncertain times. The awards are a celebration of their success – congratulations to all winners.”