The best of North Tyneside’s businesses have been celebrated at the North Tyneside Business Awards.
The annual awards, which are managed by the North Tyneside Business Forum, celebrate the huge contribution that businesses make to the local economy and how they make North Tyneside a great place to live, work and visit.
The ceremony was held at the Village Hotel, Cobalt Business Park, on Friday night (2 December) and was attended by 200 members of the business community. It was hosted by Kim Inglis, with after dinner entertainment from John Hotowka.
This year there were seven categories with the winner of each category being automatically entered into the prestigious ‘Business of the Year’ award.
The “North Tyneside Business of the Year” award for 2016 went to Godfrey Syrett who was also the winner of the award for ‘Green Business and Sustainability’.
Godfrey Syrett is a manufacturer of furniture solutions for the Education, Accommodation, Healthcare and Commercial sectors. With a head office in Killingworth, the company has expanded and has become a household name across the North East.
North Tyneside Elected Mayor, Norma Redfearn said: “Here in North Tyneside we value the huge contribution that all businesses make to the local economy and the North Tyneside Business Awards are a fantastic way for us to recognise them.
“Each individual business plays such an important role in our borough and I was absolutely delighted to be able to come along and learn more about them.
“I’d also like to say a big congratulations to Godfrey Syrett after it was chosen as North Tyneside Business of the Year. They do a fantastic job of showing the intuition and originality that makes North Tyneside what it is.”
David Hall, Group Sales and Marketing Director of Godfrey Syrett said “The business are absolutely delighted to be named North Tyneside Business of the Year. We will celebrate 70 years in the borough in 2017and what better acknowledgement could we get for this achievement.
“Winning this award gives our team the recognition they deserve and helps us gain recognition for the work that we do at our base in North Tyneside”
David Rose, Chair of the North Tyneside Business Forum said: “Congratulations to all of the winners and runners up who have been recognised here tonight. It is fantastic to see so many demonstrating their effort, resilience and a lasting commitment to their businesses, and of course North Tyneside .”
For the third year, the Special Contribution Award was presented; this was awarded to the business which has made the biggest impact on the local community and economy of North Tyneside. This year the award went to HP Enterprise Services.
New Business - Ignite Plumbing and Heating Supplies Ltd
A supplier of high quality plumbing and heating materials to the trade and public. Ignite's success entirely depends on relationships with customers. They ensure they are connected to local businesses to help them flourish and hope that, in turn, this helps them to succeed. They hope to expand the business to Wallsend, Cramlington and eventually Washington. This helps support the wider community.
Apprentice Employer – Large Business: Accenture
Accenture’s Global Delivery Network offers solutions across custom systems, leading technology platforms and emerging technologies. The UK’s only Delivery Centre is on Cobalt Park. Accenture are on of the first companies in the country to offer Degree Apprenticeships. 112 young people have joined the IT Apprenticeship Scheme since 2013, with 97% retention rate. The first two cohorts who started, graduated this year with 32 progressing to full time contracts within Accenture
Apprentice Employer – SME: Advanced Industrial Solutions Connect
AIS Connect helps young people develop and learn industry skills so they can become work-ready individuals. The group currently have 7 apprentices with a further 8 who have completed apprenticeships and are now full time employees. Over 200 young people trained and developed for industry, with sector leading success rates of over 65% (those that complete the course and go into employment or further education). 40 Employers are engaged with over 30 signing up to provide experience and hopefully employment to North Tyneside’s young people.
Retail and Service Provider - The Coffee Giant
The Coffee Giant provides catering services to businesses, day care centres, thousands of staff and local residents in the community. Launching the business with one coffee van, a first year turnover of £15,000 to employing over 20 staff, with over ten catering establishments and a predicated turnover of £350,000.
Leisure and Tourism Provider - Jam Jar Cinema
Jam Jar Cinema is one of the north's leading community cinema's; offering a foyer bar and exhibition space, all the while screening the latest blockbusters, classics and best of British and independent cinema. This year the cinema successfully raised finance and installed Digital Cinema Initiative compliant equipment, as a result of thisaudience numbers have increased to 19,000 visitors (Sept 15 - Sept 16) with an estimated 70,000 people coming through the venue in that time.
Manufacturing and Construction - Butler Doors
Manufacturer of timber based doors, doorsets and screens, supplying predominantly fire rated sets throughout the UK, mainly into public sector buildings such as schools, hospitals etc. Successfully completed prestigious projects such as all of the acoustic doorsets to the Athletes Village at the Olympics, the recent refurbishment of the Houses of Westminster and have just been awarded second phase of doorsets for the redevelopment of RAF Lakenheath.
Export - Barrier Group Ltd
A group of companies which work worldwide in the oil & gas, petrochemical and renewables markets. Services offered are painting, scaffolding, passive fire protection, insulation & HVAC, and rope access. Manufacturer of rubber components and ATEX rated enclosures as well as Jet-fire rated valve enclosures. Factories in Wallsend, Teesside, Lowestoft and Dubai, with a subsidiary company in Germany. Major projects have been carried out in Norway, Algeria, Canada, South Africa, Malaysia, Equatorial Guinea, Belgium and many more countries
Green Business and Sustainability - Godfrey Syrett
Manufacturer of furniture solutions for the Education, Accommodation, Healthcare and Commercial sectors. Celebrating 70 year anniversary in 2017, a testament to the sustainable growth and continued investment in the business. The only manufacturer in the UK on all University Consortium frameworks.
North Tyneside Business of the Year - Godfrey Syrett
Special Contribution – HP Enterprise Services
In the past year, the international business really stood out to the panel for various reasons including their fantastic apprenticeship and graduate programmes. The business has expanded rapidly in North Tyneside, now occupying over 170,000 square feet of office space and they are now North Tyneside’s largest private sector employer and one of the world’s largest technology businesses.