FIVE Bradford businesses have been awarded £10,000 each in a Dragon's Den-style event in the city.

As well as the cash bonus, the five winners have also secured a business skills training package after making it to the finals of the M&S Community Business Challenge which was held at the Kala Sangam Arts Centre, in Bradford, this week.

Bradford is the fourth city in England to host the M&S Community Business Challenge, which seeks to find inspiring businesses which are run by local people and provide clear benefits to their communities.

The winners who made it to the deciding stage and all put their cases forward to judges were: Bread + Roses Cafe, Friends of Silsden Town Hall, Mary Magdalene CIC, Queensbury Celtic Football Club and The Thornbury Centre.

Claudia Bowler, co-founder of Bread + Roses, said: “This funding will make a huge difference to us as a business. We’re already an important resource for lots of people, and this support will allow us to reach more people who need access to different services.”

While Robin Naylor, secretary of Queensbury Celtic Football Club, said: “This award of funding and support is both exciting and very humbling for us. We’ve got a great facility that we want the whole community to make use of, so this support will enable us to move forward and expand the services we offer.”

Also thrilled to become a winner was Paul Kilgallon, trustee of Friends of Silsden Town Hall, who said: “Just being shortlisted for this event was great recognition of the work that we do, but to actually receive this support will help us to continue transforming the building into a really valuable space.”

Summing up the importance the challenge, Julie Brown, business and operations manager of The Thornbury Centre, said: “This support opens up many opportunities for us as an organisation – both in terms of growing the commercial side of the business and the services that we can offer people in the community.”

The Community Business Challenge launched in Liverpool in 2018 as part of M&S’s Community Transformation Programme. The retailer is trialling a range of actions in cities like Liverpool and Bradford to help tackle the issues that matter most to communities – such as unemployment, skill shortages, loneliness, mental health and wellbeing.

Bradford is the fourth city in England to host the M&S Community Business Challenge following legs in Plymouth and Bristol earlier this year.

Sam Haigh, Bradford store manager at M&S, said: “This event has been a fantastic demonstration of the inspiring work of community businesses across Bradford. Throughout this process we’ve seen great engagement from customers and members of the community, who have got involved and voiced their support for these amazing community businesses. We’re proud to be raising awareness of some of the shortlisted businesses in our Bradford store.”

In addition to the skills support and funding provided by M&S and Power to Change, all five finalists will also be enrolled in the PwC Social Entrepreneurs Club, a free membership network that helps entrepreneurs to develop skills, build networks and grow their businesses. PwC is one of the support partners of the M&S Community Business Challenge.

Lee Dobbins, director at PwC Bradford, said: “I'm thrilled to be involved in the first Bradford Community Business Challenge. I was really impressed with the five shortlisted community businesses we saw today and look forward to seeing their progress over the coming months.”