THE friends behind Spark:York have been named as two of the UK's foremost “young entrepreneurs of the year” by an international foundation.

Tom McKenzie, 25, and Sam Leach, 25, have been named in the UK’s top five young entrepreneurs in the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards.

The founders of Spark:York, the Piccadilly project built from 23 upcycled shipping containers, were inspired by the box parks, community and street food markets they saw when travelling around Europe.

Tom and Sam launched Spark:York in May 2018, turning a derelict city-centre site into a 'thriving village of independent enterprises'. It had 400,000 visitors in its first eight months.

Spark:York and Business Enterprise Fund must now wait until March 13 when the overall winners of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards will be announced at an Awards Ceremony in Liverpool.