Halesowen-based Tim Warrington has been recognised as one of Britain’s top entrepreneurs after being named as a finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Tim’s company, servicerobots.com, manufactures, hires and sells robots for events. Its latest product, the Robot Bar, is a fully automated cocktail and drinks robot. All the products are manufactured in the UK.

Tim Warrington has been shortlisted from over 5300 business leaders and entrepreneurs from across the country – the biggest field of entrants the awards have ever had.

“Being recognised like this is what makes it all worthwhile,” says Tim, “and it’s a great honour to be a finalist in these awards. As an entrepreneur for over 20 years, the last few have tested me and made me dig deeper than I ever thought possible. The business is becoming stronger, and we have some great new products being released, all of which is great for UK manufacturing. Our new Robot Bar, for example, was designed with our own patented snap lock system and uses specially designed inhouse software and optics dispensers.”

The Great British Entrepreneur Awards, in partnership with Starling Bank, acknowledges and champions hard work and uplifting stories of business owners across the UK, with an emphasis on their journey and resilience over financial achievements. The emphasis for Tim is in re-kindling the British industrial sector, largely spurred on by the short-staffed service industry.

“The service robot industry is a growth area, with companies unable to get the required level of staffing, service robots are filling these gaps so staff can be used elsewhere. There is real difficulty filling jobs since Brexit, so company directors are looking at filling those gaps with robots which can work 24 hours, 7 days a week. Hotels and events are seeing the first growth from this.”

Twelve awards will be given out in each region for categories including Disruptor of the Year, Entrepreneur for Good Award, and the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year. Notable winners from previous years include Social Chain founder Steven Bartlett, who went on to become the youngest ever investor on BBC’s Dragon’s Den.

Tim is no stranger to awards. “We won the Lloyds Business Award for AI in 2020. AI is getting smarter – by nature that is what it does; the software in our robots learns its environment and adapts to changes. AI gets smarter every day.”

So smart, says Tim, that we must be careful about outcomes. “I do believe we need to be careful with robotics. Moral integrity plays a part here and unless this software and hardware is controlled and governed properly it could have unimagined consequences. Government needs to look at what these machines bring to the future because they are coming, and nothing will stop them. For now, it’s about control and making sure AI is used in the correct way.”

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards. The alumni have collectively generated over £30 billion in revenue and employed more than 450,000 people.

To mark the milestone year for the programme, entrants will have the chance to win over £30,000 worth of marketing support and a tree will be planted for every application submitted with the support of Ecologi. The winners will be announced at a Grand Final, held at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on 21st November.

Founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, Francesca James, said the quality of this year’s entrants showed the strength of entrepreneurship across the UK: “The quality of applications is consistently excellent, but we have been especially blown away by the innovation, drive and determination demonstrated this year. Shortlisting from so many inspiring contenders has been more challenging than ever, with many deserving cases put forward and an ever-growing business community thriving across the country.

“From the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis, business hasn’t had it easy over the past few years, but it’s a testament to the tenacity and perseverance of these entrepreneurs that they have continued on their path and refused to give in. This year’s finalists should be so proud of what they’ve already achieved both in business and in being shortlisted for an award”

Anne Boden MBE, Founder of Starling Bank, headline partner of the Awards, said: “Congratulations to all those businesses who made the shortlist. It’s great to see the passion, resilience and amazing ingenuity from entrepreneurs across so many categories.”