A YOUNG entrepreneur who won over judges of this year's Evening Press Business Awards has since captured the imagination - and support - of the award sponsor.

Sam Rickett founded virtual online trading website Bullbearings.com, which is attracting 500 new members a week, as well as specialist software developer and consultancy Everlution Software.

The success of his exciting and educative internet game secured him the Press's prestigious Young Business Entrepreneur of the Year title.

Now Sam is to receive a year's free business support from the award sponsor, design, build and development company, Severfield-Reeve Projects (SRP).

The offer was made after SRP business development manager Paula Stewart was impressed by Sam's drive and entrepreneurial flair while carrying out the company's judging of the award.

Based at York Science Park, Bullbearings.com and Everlution will now be able to tap into business expertise within SRP, including financial and personnel management, marketing skills and external services such as public relations.

"This is a fantastic gesture by SRP," said Sam, 24, whose website idea has been swooped upon by investors, schools, colleges, advertisers and trading strategists, portals and media outlets, including the Investors Chronicle and The Independent newspaper.

"While my ventures are progressing extremely well, I am keen to benefit from other people's experience."

Sam launched BullBearings.com as a student investment banking society in 2000 at University of York, from which he graduated with a first-class honours degree in computer science two years later.

The business now has 30,000 national members, growing at a rate of about 500 a week, and is among the largest providers of financial simulation software in the country.

After a visit to a London trading floor, Sam also launched the venture as a web-based virtual trading simulation, offering novice and professional traders the chance to enhance their trading skills without risking real money.

In response to growing inquiries, Sam last year launched Everlution Software, which offers specialist software and consultancy for a range of clients, from small high-tech start-ups to large institutions.

Its work ranges from creating web interfaces for analysing streamed data from satellites to solving educational timetabling problems.

Lindsay Ross, SRP's founder and managing director, said: "Paula and the rest of our team have been very impressed with Sam and his ventures and, partly because this sort of

assistance was not available when SRP started out, we are to offer him free mentoring to support the development of his businesses during the next 12 months."

Updated: 09:13 Tuesday, December 20, 2005