2000 - Abi Williams and Rupert Meats (Rude)

The 2000 Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (London) was won by Abi Williams and Rupert Meats and their business Rude.

Rude are a London based product design company founded in 1998. They shot to fame with their quirky screen printed British themed t-shirts and have had continued success ever since.

Abi and Rupert joined forces after meeting whilst working for a graphic design agency. Quitting their jobs they founded Rude, Rupert designing the t-shirts from his bedroom and Abi doing graphic and product design specialising in putting familiar objects into other uses. Of themselves they say: "We're not fashion designers. We're product designers. Our idea is to make good design accessible in whatever medium."

Today Rude continue to offer their customers graphic design, product design and clothing ranges to a wide audience base from the discerning man on the street to multi-nationals such as The Guardian, Nickelodeon and Sony Playstation.  

Win Funding for your Business

To find out more about how you could be walking away with the £10,000 Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award please go to our Awards page.