FIVE young Hampshire entrepreneurs have made it through to the finals of a prestigious competition to find the county’s next big thing.

The Young Start-up Talent competition aims to find the next 16 to 25-year-old business champion who has set up their own creative venture.

The five finalists will have the opportunity to test out their businesses to the public at Fareham Shopping Centre from next week.

They were shortlisted at the semi-finals at Fareham Innovation Centre on June 15.

Among the finalists are Ming Wu of The Maker’s Guild, in Portsmouth, which provides a creative engineering space for users to create physical things.

Jeremy Mutebi, an economic undergraduate from the University of Southampton who has developed an online style consultancy and affordable couture, has also made the list.

Also making the cut was Philipa Brobbey, of Braids Galore, who owns and designs wigs and offers hair braiding.

Natasha Tiffin and Alice Dixon, of Seek a Word, an online translation service, are also finalists.

The competition is organised by Space to Trade, which offers mall promotion and retail-selling opportunities to retailers.

This year it attracted a large number of submissions from a variety of business sectors ranging from hairstyling to e-commerce.

Helen Frost, from the company, said: “On judging the first entrant, I was blown away by their presentation, enthusiasm and passion and going through the judging process this feeling didn’t change.

“It was a very tough one to call.

“I found them inspirational, and felt very proud to be part of the judging process on behalf of Space to Trade.

“These are the new businessmen and women of the future in Fareham, and I can’t wait to see them set up.”

Mike Taylor, centre manager at Fareham Shopping Centre, added: “It’s great to see their enthusiasm and we wish them the best of luck.

“We do hope that the public will show them the support and encouragement they need to go forward and make their businesses a success.”