Birmingham businesses shine in Black in Business initiative

Channel 4 and Lloyds have announced the winners of the 2024 Black in Business initiative, with two Birmingham-based Black-owned businesses claiming the top spots.

Flora & Curl and Nylah’s Naturals, both haircare brands, will receive a prize package that includes free TV advertising airtime, a professionally created TV advert and business mentoring.

The Black in Business initiative, launched by Channel 4 in partnership with Lloyds, aims to tackle the challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs when building and scaling their businesses.

According to the Lloyds’ 2022 Black. British. In Business and Proud report, 84% of Black business owners have experienced discrimination in their entrepreneurial journeys.

Channel 4’s own research further reveals that Black-owned businesses often struggle to secure funding until after they have already become successful, in contrast to their white counterparts.

Ewan Douglas, head of sales nations & regions & business development, at Channel 4 Sales said: “I’m proud that we had the opportunity to be introduced to so many promising businesses through the Black in Business initiative, and look forward to the next exciting phase as the winners work with Channel 4 on their adverts.

“Our shortlisted businesses at the top 20 and top 8 stages had tremendous potential, which made it all the more difficult to decide on who our winners would be. Fundamentally, we were blown away by the entrepreneurial journeys of our chosen winners and excited at the chance to work with them. Fundamentally, we were blown away by the entrepreneurial journeys of our chosen winners and excited at the chance to work with them. We’re confident that Channel 4 will do our best to provide the expertise and insights needed to supercharge these businesses, helping them to grow from strength to strength.”

Building on the success of last year’s initiative, the four winning businesses will each receive £150,000 worth of TV airtime on Channel 4, starting in July.

The winners will also benefit from tailored mentoring with senior executives from both Channel 4 and Lloyds, offering valuable expertise to help their businesses thrive.

Flora & Curl is a haircare brand that specialises in plant-powered products for textured hair.

Nylah’s Naturals focuses on empowering Black women to embrace their natural hair through advanced, recovery-focused ingredients.

Rose Ovensheshi from Flora & Curl said: “I am incredibly honoured to have been chosen as a winner of this incredible initiative by Channel 4 and Lloyds Bank to promote and uplift black-owned businesses on TV! And my whole team are buzzing and we can’t wait to see the sales uplift and experience national recognition after a busy last two years of our rebrand project which has been a labour of love. We are just over the moon.”

Kameese Davis from Nylah’s Naturals said: “I am delighted to have secured this incredible opportunity through Channel 4 and Lloyds Bank. Given the disparities black and female founders face in accessing the capital needed to market our initiatives, this opportunity is transformative. It will amplify our voices and help us further our mission to promote hair wellness and provide solution-focused products for women dealing with challenges like hair loss.”