Gloucestershire trio triumph in South West small business awards
Three Gloucestershire businesses were officially declared as among 'the best in the West' when they won major awards at the annual contest to find the best small businesses in the South West.
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The FSB Small Business Awards for 2024 attracted a record amount of entries this year and Gloucestershire emerged with a quarter of the available regional titles at a presentation ceremony held in Exeter.
The Authentic Bread Company from the Forest of Dean, BioStart (Protrack) from Gloucester and Cheltenham’s Firestarter Business Solutions were all celebrated at the regional final and all three will now have a chance to go for national FSB titles at the UK final in Blackpool in the spring.
Kevin Pope, from BioStart, said his Gloucester-based company – which won the prestigious Innovation title – was especially happy to scoop an FSB Award as it had tried to enter the same awards in 2023 but had made a crucial mistake....
“We are particularly pleased to have won because I tried to take part in the FSB Awards last year but having done the application I forgot to press ‘enter’ so we missed out!
“We have already won a few local awards but we have never had a chance to take that forward and then try to win a national title before so this is an exciting next step for us.”
Firestarter Business Solutions, in Cheltenham, were also very pleased to be winners in the competitive Growth and Innovation category. Product and marketing director Matt Wheeler said all the ‘tightly-knit team’ in Cheltenham were delighted to have won.
“I think this award is a good endorsement of all that we have achieved so far and provides a very good platform for the future. It’s nice to be able to say that Firestarter are an award-winning company.”
Completing the hat-trick of county winners were the Authentic Bread Company from Longhope in the Forest of Dean represented on the day by Alex Davis and Emily Crewe.
The FSB members said they were proud to win one of the most sought-after titles: the South West family business of the year.
“We were delighted to receive this award in recognition of our achievement as a family business. Family businesses are a special environment, and we see all of our much-valued colleagues as an extension of our family.
“We are lucky enough to be surrounded by an excellent team, who have helped us nurture the business and support our customers, ultimately to achieve spectacular growth and success,” said Crewe.
Sam Holliday, the FSB development manager for Gloucestershire, said he was very excited to see a trio of the county’s firms emerge with regional titles
“We had so many entries in the contest from Cornwall, Dorset, Wiltshire, Bath, Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Devon and so to see three Gloucestershire firms heading back up the M5 clutching awards was very pleasing.
“It would be wonderful to think one or more of these brilliant Gloucestershire firms could now add a national title to their regional one so I will be rooting for them all when they take part in the UK final in Blackpool.”
The full list for the South West area ‘FSB Celebrating Small Business Award’ winners for 2024 is:
· Innovation Award - BioStart, Gloucester
· Expansion and Growth Award- Firestarter Business Solutions Ltd., Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
· Sustainability Award - Cofton Country Holidays Ltd., Exeter, Devon
· Family Business of the Year - Authentic Bread Company, Longhope, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire
· Microbusiness of the Year - Essential 6 Ltd., Torquay, Devon
· Self-employed / Freelancer Award – Jen Webb HR Vitals, St Austell, Cornwall
· Start-up Business of the Year - Parade House, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
· Young Entrepreneur of the Year -Natasha Mortimer, Imagineerium, Bristol Franchise Business Award - Your Man With A Van, Poole, Dorset
· Community Business Award – Bath Philhamornia
· Diversity and Inclusion Award - Craddys, Bristol
· Service Excellence Award - Next Steps Education, Bideford, Devon.
The South West final is one of a number of regional finals place across the UK, for more details click here.
The story above is a press release sent to Raikes in April 2024.
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