‘Skate It Yourself’ owner lands £15,000 seed fund

Kierhardy Ansell is the owner of Skate It Yourself which encourages local youngsters to become more active through weekly skateboarding lessons taught by certified teachers at venues located across Halifax and Huddersfield.

After pitching his business to a panel of experts, Kierhardy, who comes from Northowram in Halifax, was among the top four students in the final of the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards 2019.

Kierhardy is currently completing the final year of his degree in Business with Entrepreneurship and first launched Skate It Yourself during his Enterprise Placement Year.

The EPY is an alternative placement for students who want to explore the possibility of starting their own business whilst having the full support of the University’s Enterprise Team.

The 22-year-old first came across the idea for the business when, six years prior, he was completing a community-action project.

Kierhardy said: “I have been passionate about skateboarding for as long as I can remember.

“What really surprises people is when they find out I also have a passion for anything business-related. I enjoy creating new business models, writing business plans and learning as much as I can about the industry.

“I needed to raise the money to become qualified to teach.

“With the help of the University’s Enterprise Team, I discovered the local council awarded grants to companies who help young people to become more active.

“I applied and they allocated me the funds I needed.”