hungryhouse.co.uk, has been shortlisted in the Nectar Business Small Business Awards 2010, which will be judged by star of hit BBC TV show Dragon’s Den, James Caan.

Shane Lake and Tony Charles, the company’s founders, entered the online takeaway directory they set up in 2006, into the Online Business of the Year category. Thanks to the success of hungryhouse.co.uk to date they are now in with a good chance to scoop the final prize of £2,000 cash, £2,000 to spend at Viking Direct and 50,000 Nectar points.

The idea behind the business came after university friends Shane and Tony were brainstorming business ideas together. Everything from a car-wash, to an internet service for booking tennis courts came up, but there was only one idea that jumped out as having any potential and that was an online ordering website for takeaways.

Research showed them that the UKs home delivery takeaway market was worth over £2 billion, but it was missing a website which could offer a 1-stop-shop for thousands of different takeaways across the country and hungryhouse.co.uk was born. The proposition for restaurant owners was very simple. There was no charge to join hungryhouse.co.uk and hence no risk for the restaurateur. Instead, hungryhouse.co.uk charged a commission on the value of each order.

Four years on and hungryhouse.co.uk is now a hugely successful website where consumers can browse over 2,500 takeaway menus, read 130,000 customer reviews and order takeaways online direct from thousands of local restaurants nationwide.

Shane comments; "We’re so pleased to be shortlisted in the Nectar Business Small Business Awards – the recognition makes all the hard work well worth it. Having started the business in early 2006 with limited funds, we have grown and taken the business nationwide. We’ve recently even opened an operations centre in Prague, and once we cover everyone in the UK with a good choice of menus the next step will be to expand internationally"

hungryhouse.co.uk was just one of many hugely successful and dedicated small UK enterprises that entered the Nectar Business Small Business Awards and his entry will now be judged by a panel of experts, including James Caan who will decide the final winners.

Charlie Humphreys, Client Development Director at Nectar, says: “Times are tough for small business owners and everyone who has managed to sustain growth and excel in the midst of a recession deserves recognition for their exceptional achievements. The awards offer the chance for small businesses, entrepreneurs and social enterprises to demonstrate they’ve beaten the odds to succeed in these difficult times and I would like to wish everyone who has been shortlisted so far the best of luck!”

For full information on the awards please visit www.nectar-business.com/sba2010