BIBAs finalists announced

A Preston-based firm of ‘fun experts’ has been shortlisted for five categories at one of Lancashire’s leading business awards.

Sunshine Events is in the running for the Tourism and Leisure Business of the Year, Creative Business of the Year, Employer of the Year and Service Business of the Year with director, James Sandwell, up for the Business Person of the Year category at this year’s Be Inspired Business Awards, the BIBAs.

Morecambe-based sexual health clinic Better2Know and e-cigarette firm The Flavour Warehouse are also up for five prizes including nominations for Better2Know finance director Anthea Morris and Aaron Gorton, a sales manager at The Flavour Warehouse.

The applicants will go forward to a second round of judging which will see judging panels visit the finalists in their businesses later this month to select which of them pick up the awards.

Tony Raynor, managing director at Blackburn-based telecommunications specialist Abbey Telecom which sponsors the Service Business of the Year category, said: “Many of the judges who have selected these finalists are former BIBAs winners themselves and many of them have said this year’s finalists are among the best they have seen.

“In previous years, many of those which have not made the shortlists would have had a seat at the Blackpool Tower on ceremony night, but the quality has been simply too high this year.

“I would like to thank every business in Lancashire which took the time to apply for the BIBAs because it is a real undertaking to put yourself up against the type of judging these awards have.

“For those who have made it on to the shortlists, myself and the team at Abbey Telecom cannot wait to share the ceremony night in the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool with you in September – you are a true inspiration to us all here in Lancashire.”

Chorley-based energy group UtiliGroup, food processing specialists Cutting Edge Services, along with Better2Know and Flavour Warehouse, have all made it on to the shortlist for the awards’ top prize, Business of the Year.

They are joined by Roccia, the Preston-headquartered tile retailer, Suresite Group, the Winter Gardens venue in Blackpool and East Lancashire digital agency Sundown Solutions among the eight finalists for the category, which is sponsored by BIBAs headline sponsor, Cuadrilla Resources.

In the individual category, Business Person of the Year, sponsored by the University of Central Lancashire, David Marks, a leading scientist and entrepreneur behind biosciences firm Levity Crop Science, and Rebekah Fitzhugh, director at Granby Marketing Services of Blackburn, join James Sandwell among the finalists.

The second round of judging gets underway from Monday, June 18 when the judges for the Small Business of the Year category will be the first to hit the road for the ‘BIBAs On Tour’, the awards’ unique second round of judging, which concludes on July 11 with the Business of the Year.

The BIBAs 2018 finalists

Business of the Year

• UtiliGroup
• Better2Know
• Cutting Edge Services
• Flavour Warehouse
• Roccia
• Sundown Solutions
• Suresite Group
• Winter Gardens Blackpool

Exporter of the Year

• Ainscough Wind Energy
• Better2Know
• Currency Matters
• First Trace Heating
• Flavour Warehouse
• Group 55
• Levity Crop Science
• Paper Cup Company

Micro Business of the Year

• Group 55
• Bowland Bioenergy
• Next Day Freight
• Pennine Wealth Solutions
• Specialist Training & Consultancy
• The ATACC Group
• UK Media and Events
• Woodside Design

Tourism & Leisure Business of the Year

• Barry Robinson Leisure
• Hallmark Hotel
• No 10 Hotel
• Sunshine Events
• The Bee Centre
• UK Media and Events
• Viva Blackpool
• Winter Gardens, Blackpool

Third Sector Business of the Year

• Advocacy Focus
• Artz for All
• Ascentis
• Community Gateway
• Dance Syndrome
• Positive Action in the Community
• Primary Engineer
• The Bee Centre

Medium Business of the Year

• Flavour Warehouse
• B & M Waste
• Cutting Edge
• Fox Brothers (Lancashire)
• Roccia
• True Bearing
• Watson Ramsbottom
• Winter Gardens Blackpool

Manufacturer of the Year

• Beech’s Fine Chocolates
• Bowland Bioenergy
• Flavour Warehouse
• Nutree Life
• Pakawaste
• Performance Springs
• Standfast & Barracks
• The Protein Lab (UK)

New Business of the Year

• JFN Integrated Solutions
• Fresh Perspective Resourcing
• Huxter International
• LM Training & Consultancy
• M4B
• Mosney Mill
• Richard Holden BBQ
• Woodside Design

Creative Business of the Year

• Blue Wren
• Catapult PR
• Door4
• Marvel at Everything
• Sundown Solutions
• Sunshine Events
• Workhouse Marketing
• Yellowphin

Construction Business of the Year

• Fox Brothers (Lancashire)
• FTS Merit
• Newbury Homes
• Pinington Construction
• S&H Group
• StormMeister Flood Protection

Small Business of the Year

• ARC (Fylde Coast Accident Repair)
• Better2Know
• Door4
• Gillett Environmental
• JFN Integrated Solutions
• Nugent Sante
• Sundown Solutions
• The Protein Lab (UK)

Employer of the Year

• Advocacy Focus
• Are You Owed Money
• Better2Know
• FTS Merit
• Printed Cup Company
• Sunshine Events
• Suresite Group
• UtiliGroup

Professional Business of the Year

• Brownlow Utilities
• Fresh Perspective Resourcing
• Hest Bank Dental Care
• Nugent Sante
• Pennine Wealth Solutions
• Rotherham Taylor
• True Bearing
• Watson Ramsbottom

Transport Business of the Year

• E&C Distribution
• Fagan & Whalley
• Gillett Environmental
• Next Day Freight
• SCS Logistics
• Walton’s Coaches

Service Business of the Year

• Sunshine Events
• Currency Matters
• Door4
• Fresh Perspective Resourcing
• FTS Merit
• Granby Marketing Services
• Pakawaste
• Suresite Group

Family Business of the Year

• B & M Waste
• ARC (Fylde Accident Repair)
• Brindle Distillery
• Clifton Homecare
• First Trace Heating Direct
• FTS Merit
• No 10 Hotel
• Waltons Coaches

Engineering Business of the Year

• Cutting Edge Services
• Ballpark Precision Engineering
• JSE
• K&M Precision Engineering
• Lyndhurst Precision Engineering
• Pakawaste
• Performance Springs
• StormMeister Flood Protection

Business Person of the Year

• Anthea Morris – Better2Know
• Aaron Gorton – Flavour Warehouse
• Rebekah Fitzhugh – Granby Marketing Services
• David Marks – Levity Crop Science
• Yasser Ahmed – Roccia
• Heath Groves – Sundown Solutions
• James Sandwell – Sunshine Events
• Alan Aitken – Woodhouse Designs