West Midlands Business Masters: Pride, Newcomer and Innovator awards hotly contested
AS we count down the days to TheBusinessDesk.com’s West Midlands Business Masters Awards 2015, we take a closer look at the contenders.
Today we focus on the Pride, Newcomer and Innovator categories.
In the Pride category – which rewards companies for the work in the charity or CSR fields – Hollywood Monster, Miss Macaroon, Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) and Warwickshire Country Cricket Club will be slugging it out.
Birmingham signage company Hollywood Monster gives around £75,000 to local charities each year, in cash and kind donations.
Its workforce is actively encouraged to support causes, whether that be volunteering time or expertise or getting the business involved.
Managing director Tim Andrews co-founded the Harry Moseley Ball, which over two years raised around £200,000 for the HelpHarryHelpOthers charity, and he raised more than £5,000 this year competing in the Tokyo Marathon for new charity LoveBrum.
Miss Macaroon is a community interest group set up to provide employment and work experience for young NEET offenders through the baking and sale of French macaroons.
All profits are reinvested in increasing employability and life chances for young care leavers and ex-offenders.
The company is in the process of opening a French macaroon and hot chocolate shop in Birmingham city centre.
Pertemps People Development Group embraces social vale as part of its culture, supporting employee engagement for the benefit of the community.
It recently celebrated a decade of payroll giving by employees and has helped organisations such as Small Heath Boxing Club and the Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Warwickshire Country Cricket Club also has a community engagement programme.
Central to this is ensuring that cricket, the club itself and Edgbaston Stadium are accessible and relevant to the culurally, socially and economically diverse communities in the area in which it operates.
And over the past 12 months the cricket club has raised more than £50,000 for its three identified charity partners.
In the Newcomer category, Clearabee will take on Greengineering and On-Power Electrical Services.
Clearabee is a modern ‘tipping and skipping’ company which started trading in January 2013.
It is the brainchild of former investment bank analyst Daniel Long and IT and logistics specialist Rob Linton.
The on-demand rubbish removal company has been used by more than 30,000 domestic customers as well as housing associations, local authorities and businesses.
Greengeneering is a Worcestershire-based engineering R&D company specialising in clean-tech.
Its DrainMiser products capture thermal energy from waste water and use this to significantly reduce the energy required to heat water
It is also working on a system to harvest and re-use energy from buses, lorries and trains.
On-Power Electrical Services has grown from zero to £2.5m turnover in two years.
It focuses on delivering electrical installations to large scale commercial applications on time and on budget.
It has also stepped in to help out failing contractors to ensure the end customer’s development is completed in time.
In the Innovator category the battle for top spot is between Intatec, Kimal, Mercato Solutions and Penso Group.
Intatec’s products include the environmentally friendly IntaSave which providers an efficient and effective solution to problems of water and energy wastage.
The product has a built-in adjustable flow restrictor which cuts boiler start up times, amongst other benefits.
Kimal makes catheters and had brought innovation to a market that has seen little of it in recent decades.
Its Altius range uses patented manufacturing technology called Multi-Tube which reduces the risk of infection, maintains a closed system and has less restrictive flow rates.
The firm has plans for a range of trauma catheeters with high infusion capabilities.
Mercato Solutions has reated a software platform – KnowledgeKube – that means non-technical people can quickly create advanced web and mobile apps without writing computer code.
As a result it has built a new recruitment approach for identifying, hiring and training non-IT people with the right type of core skills.
Coventry’s Penso Group is a fast growing manufacturer which has invested significantly in creating new lightweight solutions for the automotive, aerospace, defence and rail sectors.
It has added £4m of sales to its its annual turnover in the last 12 months and works with the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley and Mercedes Benz.
Tomorrow we will take a look at the contenders in the Apprentice Scheme, Listed Business and Fast Growth Business categories.
The Business Masters Awards take place on the evening of Thursday June 11 at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham.
There’s still time to book your seats or to sponsor an award category.
If you are interested in taking a table or a number of seats for the awards dinner please send an email with your requirements to Ellie Callender at ellie@outthereevents.com
For sponsorship inquiries please e-mail Brett Murray at brett.murray@thebusinessdesk.com or call him on 07875 499667.
You would be joining our existing sponsors: Birmingham Airport, law firm Higgs & Sons, accountancy firm MHA Bloomer Heaven and Hotel La Tour.
Hotel La Tour, based in Albert Street near Moor Street station in central Birmingham, is also offering a special room rate for those attending the Masters awards. A single occupancy room will cost £85 on the night with a £10 supplement for double occupancy.
Call 0121 718 8000 or email reservations@hotel-latour.co.uk to take advantage of the offer. Quote Business Desk Awards to get the special price.
It must be booked 14 days in advance.
