Shortlist for North West Business Masters awards revealed
THE finalists for the 2015 North West Business Masters Awards have been revealed.
They include leading entrepreneurs, innovators, exporters and philanthropists, who have all made a difference to business in the North West over the past year.
They range in size from businesses with just two staff to a leading nationwide retailer, and from a pre-revenue venture to one of the world’s biggest financial services businesses.
After a record number of entries for our expanded and enhanced awards programme, our independent judges shortlisted up to four companies per category.
The winners will be announced at a black-tie dinner at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on March 12. The awards are sponsored by: law firm Gateley; Cenkos Securities; The Business Growth Hub, NCC Group and North West marketing and communcations agency Influential.
Chris Barry, editor of TheBusinessDesk.com said: “The North West Business Masters Awards were created to celebrate business success in this fantastic and diverse region. Reflecting this, we have a huge variety of organisations on the shortlist and March 12 will be a fantastic evening I am sure.
“We would like to thank all of the businesses who took the time to enter and of course the judges for their time and efforts.”
In the Ambassador category, the award which recognises outstanding leadership, vision and commitment to business in the region, there are four strong finalists: Lawrence Jones of UK Fast, the Manchester cloud computing firm who has just received an MBE for services to the digital economy; Peter Livesey chairman of Lancashire property development company PJ Livesey Group; Norman Stoller, the businessman, angel investor and philantropist and Maurice Watkins, senior partner of law firm Brabners and a tireless charity fund-raiser.
In the Apprenticeship category, the four finalists are drawn from a range of sectors, manufacturing, telecoms and financial services.
The finalists are: BNY Mellon, Manchester; Cammell Laird, the Birkenhead shipbuilder; Bury-based Pennine Telecoms and Lancashire-based Silentnight Brands.
In the Newcomer category – which looks for the best new business initiative in the region in the last three years – the judges shortlisted: Bolton-based Handrail Creations, which designs and makes bespoke timber handrails; MMA Digital, a specialist digital agency for law firms based in Cheadle; Runcorn-based nutrition business Protein Works and Storelectric, a pre-revenue business developing what is says is the world’s cleanest, most efficient and cost-effective grid-scale electricity storage system.
The Fast Growth Business Category, sponsored by Influential, sees Better Bathrooms, the omni-channel retailer founded by entrepreneur Colin Stevens take on Salford-based DNA testing firm BioClinics, Manchester-based Designer Habitat, a supplier of kitchen and homeware products and acquisitive Cheshire-based IT services group ITS Technology.
The Listed Company category, sponsored by Cenkos Securities, will see three strongly-performing businesses competing for the award. The short-listed trio are: newly-listed Skelmersdale’s Flowtech FluidPower; Manchester-based Frenkel Topping and retailer JD Sports Fashion.
If you are interested in taking a table or a number of seats for the North West Masters Awards dinner please email: catherine@outthereevents.com For sponsorship opportunities please email alan.townley@thebusinessdesk.com or damian.walsh@thebusinessdesk.com
The full shortlist is:
Newcomer
Handrail Creations
mmadigital
Storelectric
The Protein Works
Innovator – Sponsored by NCC Group
Avecto
CTI Corporate Travel International
Swellaway
VUE CCTV
Pride/ CSR
City in the Community Foundation – Manchester City Football Club
Inciner8 Limited
ISG
The Monastery Manchester
Manufacturer (SME) – Sponsored by The Business Growth Hub
Crawford Healthcare
Duo UK
Glossop Cartons
MHA Lighting Ltd
Manufacturer (Large)
James Halstead
Silentnight Brands
The PJ Livesey Group
Vernacare
Exporter (SME)
ALG International Holdings
Crawford Healthcare
Faith Products Ltd t/a Faith in Nature
Inciner8
Exporter (Large)
Clarke Energy
James Halstead
Vernacare
Apprentice Scheme
BNY Mellon, Manchester
Cammell Laird
Pennine Telecom
Silentnight Brands
Listed Business – sponsored by Cenkos Securities
Flowtech Fluid Power plc
Frenkel Topping
JD Sports Fashion
Fast Growth Business – Sponsored by Influential
Better Bathrooms
BioClinics Ltd
Designer Habitat
ITS Technology Group Ltd
North West Ambassador – Sponsored by Gateley
Lawrence Jones MBE – UKFast
Peter Livesey – The PJ Livesey Group
Norman Stoller CBE DL – Stoller Charitable Trust
Maurice Watkins CBE – Brabners LLP
