The Dorset founder of global marine technology company savvy navvy has been recognised as one of the UK’s most exceptional business leaders.

Jelte Liebrand was named ‘Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022, held in London.

Jelte, who lives in Poole, founded and developed savvy navvy.

The all-in-one navigation app aims to simplify boating technology by making navigation safe and easy for everyone.

Often referred to as ‘Google maps for boats’, the app continues to go from strength to strength.

The number of users has almost doubled this year in more than 100 countries around the world.

Jelte took to the stage at the tenth anniversary of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2022 ceremony at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London.

He was a winner in one of 12 categories from the South West, selected from more than 5,300 award entrants from all over the UK.

Jelte, who is savvy navvy’s CEO, said: “It was such a surprise to win ‘Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the Year’ out of so many amazing business leaders across the country.

“Standing on stage at the awards ceremony in front of 1,400 people, I felt especially proud being one of the only entrepreneurs flying the flag for the marine industry, which we continue to innovate.

“Over the past five years we have worked hard to constantly develop our app with unique and user-friendly features based on feedback from users, to fulfil our vision to get more people out on the water.

“We now have a team of 14 employees, our turnover has more than doubled this year and the number of users of the savvy navvy app continues to rapidly grow globally.

“The scale-up award felt like a very suitable award to end a great 2022.”

This year savvy navvy has gone beyond boating, adding functionalities for paddleboarders, kayakers and jet skiers.

It continues to be very popular in the UK and the app has also seen huge user growth in the USA, Australia, the Mediterranean and Scandinavia this year.

The national Great British Entrepreneur Awards are held in partnership with Starling Bank.

They acknowledge and champion the hard work and uplifting stories of business owners across the UK.

Winners from all regions across the UK were acknowledged with the overall Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2022 won by Jordan Brompton, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of myenergi Ltd.

Ying Tan, Non-executive Chairman of Knowledge Bank and one of the Great British Entrepreneur Award 2022 judges, said: “savvy navvy is an innovative and dynamic business which is growing and has a global presence.

“The business brings an excellent solution to a clear problem.

“A fantastic story.”

• savvy-navvy.com