Former Olympian Derek Redmond celebrates success with Milton Keynes businesses

The event was held to mark the half-way point of the Accelerator programme.

During his career, Derek held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4x400 metres relay at the World Championships and European Championships. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Redmond famously tore his hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final but continued the race limping and, with assistance from his father, managed to complete a full lap of the track as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Although Redmond was disqualified and listed as "did not finish" due to the outside assistance finishing the race, the incident has become a well-remembered moment in Olympic history.

As the biggest bank for start-ups in Great Britain1, the NatWest Accelerator supports UK entrepreneurs and empowers them to scale their businesses to the next level, through coaching, a programme of thought leadership and events, access to a network of like-minded peers and full-time use of a modern co-working space. The programme is free for participating businesses and entrepreneurs do not need to give up any equity in their business to take part. 

In addition to marking the half-way point of the programme, the Milton Keynes Accelerator is also celebrating the news that it has been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards (MKBAA) in ‘Business Impact in the Community’ category.

Debbie Lewis, accelerator community manager at NatWest, said: “We are celebrating lots of milestones at the moment. We thank Derek for being a part of our recent event and encouraging our businesses to never to give up even when things don’t go to plan. He is a great example of someone who pivots and adapts which is something we challenge many of our business owners to do whilst they are on the programme.

“And we are delighted to be shortlisted for the ‘Business Impact in the Community’ award. It’s a testament to the amazing work our businesses and our wider NatWest network are doing across our community.”

Entrepreneurs looking to grow and scale their businesses are encouraged to register their interest in the Accelerator by visiting: https://www.natwest.com/business/business-services/entrepreneur-accelerator.html