Business & Tourism Awards 2012: The winners

More than 200 guests gathered at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, on Friday, for the glittering spectacle, which was hosted by best-selling business author and BBC business commentator Geoff Burch.

Managing directors, tourism chiefs and innovative entrepreneurs from across South Lakeland, north Lancashire, Eden and the Yorkshire Dales had submitted 120 entries for the 11 categories.

The categories were Innovation and Technology, Training and Development, Retailer of the Year, Hotel of the Year, Team of the Year, Green Award, Tourist Attraction /Tour Operator of the Year, Social and Community Development, Small Business of the Year and Place To Stay.

BUSINESS OF THE YEAR The most prestigious accolade went to quality meat company Lakes Speciality Foods (LSF), of Staveley.

Its growth has been outstanding since it was formed in May 2004 with just five employees in a single unit at Bankside Barn in the village. LSF steadily outgrew its premises to take over all five units on the site, and it now has 25 staff.

There is also a sister company, Cheese Larder, based at Kendal Food Park, which works in symbiosis with LSF.

After receiving the award, director Dan Weston said: “We feel elated.

“There has been a big focus this year.

“What keeps us motivated is the bottom line – that keeps us focused.

“We monitor the business daily, weekly and monthly – you have to check everything constantly and make sure the business is going in the right direction.

“Over the last year we have really grown quite well. We were successful last year in winning Small Business of the Year and that really focused us on how we really address this industry at the moment and also the state of the economy.

“We have grown a great deal these last 12 months.

“We are in Cumbria and the North West of England – there couldn’t be a better place to have a business.

“I probably have the greatest drive to work anybody could experience - most people pay for that view but we get it for free.”

Fellow director Chris Gray said: “We are delighted to win.

“It has been a tough year because of the economic climate and we have had a really big push.

“Everyone has worked so hard.

“Customer service and consistency is everything to us.” INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY THE joy was visible on the faces of Michael and Pam Houghton as they approached the stage to collect the Innovation and Technology Award.

The couple, who run Houghton Parkhouse, in Milnthorpe, were pleased as punch to receive the acknowledgement for the hard work put in by everyone at the company.

Being innovative is absolutely essential for the highly-competitive industry that the Houghton Parkhouse team find themselves in – transporting livestock. Their groundbreaking Platinum range – with sliding vents – has been key to the success enjoyed by the firm, whose transporters can be seen on roads across the north west of England on a daily basis.

Michael Houghton said: “I feel absolutely elated. It is brilliant.

“We have worked so hard this year. We are really pleased. Winning an award like this gives staff an incentive to keep on driving forward.

“There is competition for what we do from all over Europe so innovation is the only way to compete and to patent the products we design. We listen to our clients and take on board what they tell us so we can keep developing.”

At the heart of everything the business does is the welfare, health and safety of the animals which are being transported, and this is one of the many reasons for the company’s success.

The runners-up were Eurodyne and Kirkby Lonsdale- based Connect2Cleanrooms Limited.

SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

CHEERS filled the room as the Social and Community Development Award was scooped by a charity with a focus on mental health.

Growing Well Industrial and Provident Society was applauded as training co-ordinator Hazel Sharples picked up the trophy on behalf of volunteers and staff.

The organisation supports students with therapeutic and inclusive farming activities on ten acres of land at Sizergh Farm, near Kendal.

After receiving the award Mrs Sharples gave one example of the power of their eight-year-old group.

She said: “We are small but we are doing a lot of different things and our job is always changing.

“This year one of our volunteers is on the way to getting an apprenticeship as a hill farmer. Seeing him develop over the years is something very special.We will be having cake to celebrate at brew time on Monday morning in the yurt.”

Runners-up in the category were Kirkby Lonsdale and Lune Valley Community Interest Company, Kirkby Lonsdale, and the Oaklea Trust, Kendal.

Martin Cutbill, director of sales and marketing at Furness Building Society, said: “We as a society place a lot of store by organisations that give back to the community.

“We give at least 15 per cent of our profits back to the community and the work Growing Well do is fantastic.”

HOTEL OF THE YEAR

WHEN the Rothay Garden Hotel scooped Hotel of the Year, it felt like just rewards for the gamble taken by managing director Chris Carss last year.

In early 2011, he closed the picturesque hotel for six months to allow for a £1m upgrade of 15 rooms, creating a total of 12 suites and a redesign and expansion of its Garden Restaurant and Riverside Spa.

It paid off, with the hotel being transformed from three-star to four-star accommodation before picking up the award at Friday’s ceremony in recognition of the high standards it has reached.

Mr Carss, who has 19 dedicated and loyal staff, said: “I am delighted. The key to this is the fact that we have a really happy team. My head chef, Andrew Burton, has been with me for 21 years, the second chef, Adrian Kneeshaw, has been with us 17 years.

“Despite everything, all the challenges we have faced, we have done well. We have to spend more on marketing this year because of the weather, the recession, the Olympics, so we have done more marketing than ever before and we ended up with a record August, so we were delighted by that.”

Highly commended in the Hotel of the Year Award category were Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel and Overwater Hall Hotel.

BEST TOURIST ATTRACTION/TOUR OPERATOR

AN enterprise which gives passengers a historic Lakeland experience has been recognised in The Westmorland Gazette Business and Tourism Awards.

Ullswater ‘Steamers’ won Best Tourist Attraction/Tour Operator after a brilliant year in business at Glenridding.

Its team cheered as general manager Mark Horton stepped on stage to receive their award, presented by The Westmorland Gazette’s assistant editor Mike Addison.

Ullswater ‘Steamers’, which has been owned and operated by Kendal-based Lake District Estates since the 1950s, now employs 28 staff.

Mr Horton said this hard-working team were ‘absolutely delighted’. He added: “We work hard at what we do and it has been a tough year for everyone in the tourism industry.

“At the end of a hard year to receive an award like this is absolutely brilliant and everyone back at Glenridding and Pooley Bridge and the directors will be honoured.” The company has one of the largest heritage passenger fleets in England. This includes the 135-year-old Lady of the Lake, the oldest-working passenger vessel in the world. But, the firm’s directors have kept the business up to date by refurbishing and extending Glenridding Pier House and relaunching the 1935 passenger vessel the Western Belle.

Also shortlisted was tour specialists Mountain Goat, based in Windermere, and Docker Park Farm, near Arkholme.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

THE success story of Wax Lyrical, at Lindal-in-Furness, continued when managing director Mike Armstead received the award for Training and Development.

Having pulled the company back from the brink of administration, Mr Armstead has transformed it into the UK’s largest home fragrance company. He ensures that all employees are treated with respect and offered the chance to develop their careers. After receiving the accolade, Mr Armstead said he was delighted.

“We do invest in a lot of training because we fundamen-tally believe that will make employees who will add value to us. Training is not a philan-thropic exercise – it is a commercial one. The team is like a family and that is so important. Having had our heads down for five years, it is nice to bask in a little bit of the glory of what has been achieved over the years. This is really fantastic.” An example of how Wax Lyrical values training and development is that it pays for staff to study maths and English to GCSE level.

The company is currently putting five employees through business administration apprenticeships in partnership with Furness College, and they will be supported through further study at university.

Runners-up: Growing Well and Ruby Tuesday Health and Beauty.

GREEN AWARD

A COUPLE who run an eco-friendly guest house said they were ‘ecstatic and staggered’ after scooping The Westmorland Gazette’s Green Award.

Partners Graham and Linda Woodroffe, who run Elim Lodge Guest House, in Bowness, spoke humbly of their achievement after receiving their trophy and champagne.

Mr Woodroffe said: “The other businesses were both cracking, so to win this award is fantastic.

“We have worked hard at it. I have been focusing on green issues since the 1970s because it is the right thing to do. It is almost as simple as that and from a business point of view it saves money.

“We are going to drink the champagne tonight but we will be back up tomorrow morning to make the breakfasts.”

The pair founded Elim Lodge in 2004 and discovered making small changes created a big difference in terms of their carbon footprint.

Mr Woodroffe hosts seminars to advise firms on how to be sustainable.

Within the last five years the lodge has cut its gas usage by 24.9 per cent by installing a new boiler. They have reduced electricity usage by 10.7 per cent after introducing low energy bulbs.

All their fruits and vegetables are composted and their showers have restrictions on tap feeds and lower flows, which has helped save 15.2 per cent of their water usage in the last five years.

Runners-up in the category were bed and breakfast Nanny Brow, of Clappersgate, and energy management experts RSR Total Solutions, Milnthorpe.

SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

ONE of the most coveted prizes of the night was won by savvy energy saving experts RSR Total Solutions.

Staff from the Milnthorpe-based firm were applauded by more than 200 guests at the sparkling awards bash at Kendal’s Castle Green Hotel as they stepped on to the stage to receive their prizes.

They told The Westmorland Gazette they were ‘in shock’ after picking up the gong for Small Business of the Year.

After being presented with their trophy and champagne, by senior content editor Andrew Thomas, they explained the motivation behind the growing business.

Steve Munro and Colette Hogarth, of RSR, said: “The passion behind the business comes from Phil and Michelle Goodfellow, the company’s co-owners, and cascades down toward us all.”

Key accounts co-ordinator Louise Laidler added: “We are very proud. It is a good business to work for. I have been with them for a year and a half but every day is different.

“It’s really challenging and we’ve had some proud moments.”

The firm, which was founded in 2005, specialises in saving businesses energy and therefore money. Its customers include Heinz, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and the Co-operative.

Between 2009 and 2011, it has employed nine staff – a sign of their success.

Runners-up in the Small Business category were Warton-based wine merchants EWGA and cleaning specialists South Lakes Services, based in Lindale.

PLACE TO STAY AWARD

THE duo behind classy Upper Eden destination A Corner Of Eden were ‘delighted’ with their win at the Business and Tourism Awards 2012.

Owners Debbie Temple and Richard Greaves were visibly elated when host Geoff Burch announced they had picked up the award for Place to Stay.

It follows on from the highly commended prize they received in 2011.

Mr Greaves said he felt the business’s expansion over the last 12 months had been key to winning the Place To Stay accolade.

“This is tremendous for us,” he said. “We came runners up last year but we only had A Corner Of Eden, and this year we have added Angel Barn and The Shepherd’s Hut.”

A Corner of Eden is built in a Grade II listed farmhouse which the pair bought in 2005 and transformed into a thriving bed an breakfast.

And over the last year they have dramatically increased the size of the business. Angel Barn is a new eco self-catering barn which sleeps six.

And that’s not all – they have also converted a railway cabin and called it The Shepherd’s Hut, which they say puts the glam into glamping.

And having won this prestigious award, what is in store for the coming months?

Mrs Temple said: “We just want to continue to grow and do well.”

Runners-up in the category were: Long Valley Yurts and Skelwith Fold Caravan Park.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

A GROUP of 19 employees who pull together in the same direction were rewarded for their strong team spirit.

Business Lines Ltd scooped the Team of the Year award at The Westmorland Gazette’s Business and Tourism Awards 2012.

It is thanks to the hard work, dedication and togetherness of staff that the firm has recently scored its largest single export order of two million products.

The company, which operates from a base on the Kellet Road Industrial Estate, Carnforth, aims to improve the safety of vehicles with patented wheel nut safety indicators.

Their products help check that the wheel nuts and bolts of trucks and buses are always secure, and also that railway and manufacturing plant structures are safely in place.

The company’s employees, all hand-picked by managing director Mike Marczynski, can speak English, German, Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.

“This is fabulous. It is really good news for the company,” said Warehouse Supervisor Ellen Jennings.

“I feel it is well deserved. We all work hard and we all work together. It is like a close-knit family.

“Everybody looks out for each other and there is a fabulous team spirit.”

One hard working staff member is marketing manager Daena Hayhurst, who said: “We are all really proud to have won this award. It is a fantastic company to work for.

“Everyone works for one another.”

Runners-up in the category were Westmorland County Agricultural Society Limited and Wax Lyrical.

RETAILER OF THE YEAR

A COUPLE who run a growing homeware company recognised the contribution made by their staff and customers as they picked up the Retailer of the Year Award.

Kendal-based Armstrong Ward earned the glittering accolade for their development and success this year.

The firm’s co-owner Jacqueline Ward told an audience of more than 200 people of the top support they had received from their regular visitors. After receiving the award, which she will share with husband Andrew and the firm’s ten staff, Mrs Ward told The Westmorland Gazette of their pride.

“We are surprised and delighted and really chuffed!” she said.

“In the last year we have dared to expand in a challenging economy.

“It takes nerves and tenacity to have confidence in what you are doing and where you are going. You have to consider what is going on in the market place and what you have got to offer. We have to thank our staff because Armstrong Ward is a lovely, friendly place to shop and that makes all the difference.”

Speaking about how she would celebrate she said: “I’m driving tonight but I think I might be having a shandy tomorrow night!”

Other firms short-listed for the Retailer of the Year Award were charity retailer Age UK South Lakeland, based in Kendal, and Bowness-based specialist The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction.