Double celebration for bridal business at Chamber awards

A WEDDING dress shop in Birmingham is well on its way to achieving a half-million pound turnover by 2017 after being launched just over 12 months ago.

The success of Isaac Charles Bridal House was recognised at last night’s Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce annual dinner by winning two awards.

The Burlington Court-based business was placed first in the awards for Excellence in Customer Service and Excellence in Social Media.

Manager Ruth Rawson said: ”Twelve months ago we embarked on an ambitious five-year business development plan to achieve our goal of becoming No. 1 for bridal in the Midlands and beyond.

“We have reached, and in many cases exceeded, each and every target we had set ourselves to achieve in the first year.”

During the year the shop, which now has seven staff, has re-located from Great Barr to New Street and stocks industry-leading designer labels.

Russell Jeans, chairman of the judges, said: “Isaac Charles are highly deserved winners of these awards. They demonstrated tremendous determination to follow through their business plan to achieve their goals.”

The winner of the Excellence in Skills Development category was Farscape Development, a firm which deals in behavioural learning and development, helping employees recognise and explore their potential.

The Excellence in Innovation category was won by Flexmort, a Birmingham business which specialises in innovative mortuary systems.

The judges said that Flexmort had developed flexible and unique solutions in the provision of mortuary services, and had established a very distinct and successful niche.

Excellence in International Business was won by Bretby Gammatech, a manufacturer of coal monitoring equipment.

The judges said that this was a ‘passionate small enterprise with 95% of its business being conducted in challenging international markets.

Winner of Excellence in Sustainability was Network Rail, which is responsible for the construction and development of the rail network and employs 35,000 staff.

The award was for its efforts in making the rebuilding of New Street Station in Birmingham as ‘green’ as it could.

The judges said that Network Rail was an organisation that had pushed the boundaries in low carbon technology and sustainability in station redevelopment, despite the complexity of developing one of the UK’s busiest rail stations at New Street.

Winner of Excellence in Contributing to the Community was Sport Birmingham, a new charity, which promotes sport in the community.

Eileen Fegan, of Solihull Health Check Clinic, was named as The Future Face of Business.

A registered nurse and former head of healthcare at Winson Green Prison, she has set up an early diagnosis clinic, which is affordable, accessible and available to everyone.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Birmingham Chamber president Greg Lowson said that Birmingham had much to celebrate and be optimistic about from the “incredible growth” of Jaguar Land Rover to the “plethora of awards and recognitions that Birmingham has received”.

He added: “I have worked in Birmingham for nearly 25 years and I have never felt sooptimistic about the future as I do now, and most importantly, it feels sustainable.”