I bet there are a few sore heads this morning after the 2013 Bolton and Bury Business Awards.
Two of our bestof Bolton members won awards. Carrs Pasties won Family Business of the Year, and also the We’re Backing Bolton/Bury Award, which was sponsored by the bestof Bolton. David Ramsden presented the award to him.
Our other bestof Bolton member and award winner was Bolton College. They were given the honour of the Community award. Bolton Young Persons Housing Scheme were in contention for the Community award. However they were also one of the chosen charities for the evening, so the evening was still a success for them.
Clever IT were commended in the Creative Award. They said they were proud to be commended. The Creative award is for businesses who show their inititive and flair and prove how they are using the latest in technology to provide a positive impact on their business for their clients. Clever IT were up againist two multi million turnover companies so it was a great achievement to be in the same category with such established nationwide businesses. Norman Prince introducing the nominees referred to Clever IT as a company that has a bright future ahead of them. Managing Director of Clever IT Ben Griffiths said:"we are very proud to have been shortlisted and commended for this award. We had a really good evening at the ceremony and would like to congratulate Cosatto who not only won our category but also went on to win overall business of the year."
Dr Zuber Bagasi of Synergy Dental unfortunately missed out on business person of the year to another worthy winner, Imran Akram of Asons solicitors.
Whitecroft Garage were in contention too, for apprentice development. They have worked with their apprentices for several years, as the apprentices do both college and work based study. Seddons Construction took first place in this category.
Customer Excellence Award is always a monumental award to be nominated for. The Purple Property Shop were nominated. Sadly they didn’t win. In 2012 they were Best New Business so have tasted success in the past and I’m sure they will again in the future. Delicious Bury, a bestof Bury member, were handed this award.
Cosatto were the big winners on the night, scooping business of the year and the creative award. For a bit of fun, the team came on stage wearing fake moustaches when they collected their award.
Start up business of the year was Arena Creative. The managing director of Arena Creative is Martin Dickson, son of Andrew Dickson of Bolton FM.
The other winners were Dean Todd off A1 Mirrors who got apprentice of the year and Building Validations Solutions LTD, who were SME of the Year.
Starting off proceedings were The Sirens. The all-female trio performed some classic jazz and opera tunes, and got all the ladies in the room dancing to Abba. Norman Prince was our host for the evening and kept everyone in order. Ian Savage, Editor in Chief of The Bolton News and Bury Times, one of the headline sponsors of the evening, said a few nice words as well.
Two young apprentices, Samantha Ball and Mark Richards gave a fabulous speech about their experience of working as an apprentice for MBDA Missiles.
Perhaps the most surprised person of the night was Bernard Waldron. He was given a special achievement award and was clearly overcome with emotion as he arrived on stage. He composed himself enough to thank everyone who has supported him in over 40 years of working for the same company. Bernard started off as an apprentice and then worked his way up to become boss of MBDA Missiles.
A huge pat on the back to everyone who won, and of course commended and highly commended. Overall it was an unforgettable evening and one of the pinnacles of the business year. We hope everyone enjoyed their night, and managed to get (just a little) bit of work done today.
