Train operator East Midlands Trains is on board as an official partner of the MADE: The Entrepreneur festival, providing the Entrepreneur Express service to ferry VIP delegates to Sheffield this September. The Entrepreneur Express, named specially for the MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival, will be the exclusive mode of transport for over 250 leading entrepreneurs and business owners heading to Sheffield by rail for the enterprise festival.

The train runs direct from London St. Pancras to Sheffield, and is an integral part of the festival opening, bringing a host of sponsors, speakers and media to MADE. A showcase for East Midlands Trains, the Entrepreneur Express has quickly become a real festival favourite.

East Midlands Trains’ partnership with MADE is a further boost to its burgeoning business reputation; in May it announced plans to electrify the East Midlands line to Sheffield, and was recipient of a Business Excellence award from the British Quality Foundation last year.

Delegates on board the Entrepreneur Express will take part in speed networking and mentoring sessions during the journey north; guests number senior Government ministers and enterprise luminaries, including Julie Meyer, founder of Ariadne Capital; Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bicycle; Priya Lakhani, founder of Masala Masala and Joe Cohen, founder of Seatwave.

The Entrepreneur Express will embark from London St. Pancras on the morning of Thursday 20th September, Made in Britain day at the festival, when 2,500 entrepreneurs will come to Sheffield to celebrate and promote homegrown business, hearing from speakers including Peter Jones CBE, Business Secretary Vince Cable, and MOBOs founder Kanya King MBE.

Neil Micklethwaite, Customer Service & Commercial Director for East Midlands Trains, said:

“New ideas and new businesses are the engine room of the economy and we’re proud to be once again supporting the MADE festival. We hope our ongoing support for MADE will help people access some of Britain’s best business brains to help their companies grow and have a successful future.”

Michael Hayman, chairman of MADE: The Entrepreneur Festival, said:

“The Entrepreneur Express is a unique and much cherished way for us to kick off MADE festival. From Ministers, to entrepreneurs and international media, it is the only way for festival delegates to arrive in style in Sheffield. We are thrilled to work with East Midlands Trains in 2012 - a crucial partner in making this the biggest and best MADE festival yet.”