Today, Monday 7th September 2026, I’m at the Entrepreneurs Circle Conference in Birmingham, ahead of tonight’s National Entrepreneur Awards where I’m a finalist for Business Enabler of the Year.
So the timing of a little bit of press coverage in the Chichester Observer last week couldn’t have really been better.
A fellow EC member, PR man Greg Simpson, recently put together a piece about my journey from starting out as a freelance designer in the early 1980s to running Wilson Design Associates today. He picked up on something I’d said to him about it taking me more than 40 years to become an “overnight success” — and apparently thought it was worth sharing.
It’s slightly strange reading somebody else’s version of your working life, but rather nice too. Particularly because the story isn’t really about an award or even about graphic design. It’s about more than four decades of working with businesses, building relationships, sharing what I’ve learned and, hopefully, helping a few people along the way.
Anyway, enough from me. Here’s the piece that appeared in the Chichester Observer…
Chichester businessman reaches national awards final after quarter of a century supporting firms
A Chichester businessman who jokes that it has taken him more than 40 years to become an “overnight success” has reached the final of the National Entrepreneur Awards.
Steve Wilson, founder of Wilson Design Associates, is a finalist in the Business Enabler category after a quarter of a century spent not only building his own business in Chichester, but helping other local businesses to build theirs.
Steve has worked as a designer for more than 40 years and founded Wilson Design Associates in 1994, initially running his studio in London before moving the business to the south coast in 2001.
Since then, he has become a familiar face in the Chichester business community, working with local companies and organisations while also playing an active role in initiatives designed to help other business owners connect and grow.
That includes developing and running the First Friday Network, which began in Chichester more than 20 years ago as a simple, informal way for local business owners to meet without subscriptions, membership commitments or early morning starts.
Steve has also been involved with Chichester Chamber of Commerce, Chichester Education Business Partnership and Young Enterprise, as well as serving as chairman of the Chichester branch of the South Coast Design Forum.
The latest national recognition follows something of a purple patch for Steve in 2026.
He has already been named Entrepreneurs Circle Ambassador of the Year alongside fellow entrepreneur David Sekules, while Wilson Design Associates was Highly Commended for Small Business of the Year at the Chichester Chamber Awards. Steve was also a finalist for Outstanding Personal Achievement.
Steve said:
“It’s taken me more than 40 years to become an overnight success!
“It has been quite a year and it’s amazing to be recognised, but what means the most to me is that a lot of this recognition is about what we do for other businesses.
“I moved the business to Chichester 25 years ago and I've always believed that small businesses are stronger when they support one another. That’s why networking and connecting people has become such a big part of what I do alongside the design business itself.
“I've been very fortunate to work with some brilliant businesses over the years, including clients who have stayed with us for decades, and I still get a huge buzz from seeing somebody make a connection or win some business because we helped put the right people in the same room.
“To now find myself in the final of the National Entrepreneur Awards is the icing on the cake of a pretty remarkable year.”
Run by Entrepreneurs Circle, the National Entrepreneur Awards are now in their 14th year, celebrating the entrepreneurs who build, inspire and transform the UK economy.
Nigel Botterill, founder of Entrepreneurs Circle, said:
“Steve is a brilliant example of the contribution entrepreneurs make that can't simply be measured on a balance sheet. For a quarter of a century in Chichester, he's been designing for businesses, connecting businesses and creating opportunities for business owners to meet, support one another and grow.
“That kind of contribution is exactly what the National Entrepreneur Awards exist to recognise. As entrepreneurs, we're always focused on what's next and we're notoriously bad at stopping to recognise how far we've come, so we want to shine a spotlight on people like Steve who make a real difference to the businesses around them.”
Originally written by Greg Simpson, Press for Attention, and published in the Chichester Observer.