The West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Ball & Recognition Awards returned in style on Friday 12th November when over 300 guests came together to celebrate the success of businesses in North Wales.
Taking place in the Pavilion at Chester Racecourse, the event, sponsored by Ellis & Co Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers, was made even more special by the fact it is the Chamber’s centenary year. This was reflected in the theme of the evening with each table being named after a significant year from the last 100 years and having upon them memorabilia and facts from that decade. The table centrepieces were sponsored by Cheshire College – South & West.
The evening started with guests enjoying arrival drinks in the Champagne Bar, kindly sponsored by Begbies Traynor PLC, whilst listening to a live acoustic performance by Anthony Kluge, lead singer of Skynights, who were the live band for the evening.
After guests were seated, newly elected Chair of the Chamber, Helen Nellist, took to the stage to welcome all and to get the evening underway. Helen thanked the Headliner Sponsors for the evening, Ellis & Co Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers, and then introduced Chamber Chief Executive, Debbie Bryce to commence the awards.
Firstly, Debbie gave an insight into the Chamber’s history as she presented the original minute book from 1921. Containing clippings and handwritten text from the origins of the Chamber, the minute book contains a host of information about the lobbying efforts of the Chamber at the time, including skills and infrastructure, two things that are still crucial today.
Debbie also highlighted the incredible resilience and adaptability of Chamber members throughout the coronavirus pandemic and said it was a testament to their hard work and dedication that their businesses had not only survived, but in some cases, had come out of the pandemic in a stronger position.
The award ceremony then began with nine categories up for grabs for Chamber members that had been previously chosen as finalists.
The winners of each award can be found below:
Start-Up Business of the Year Award- Sponsored by Zodeq Ltd
Congratulations to our finalists:
Cyd Innovation Ltd
Faraday Wheelchairs Innovations LTD
Just Financial Group NW Ltd
Mynydd Sleddog Adventures Ltd
The HR Dept Wrexham & Chester
Congratulations to our winner:
Cyd Innovation Ltd
Young Person/Apprentice of the Year Award – Sponsored by SQR Group Ltd
Congratulations to our finalists:
Auron Polo – Titan Webtech Ltd
Carolina Teixeira- WeMindTheGap
Isaac Heyes – Russell Taylor Group
Ryan Hardwick – Financial Fortress
Congratulations to our winners:
Carolina Teixeira- WeMindTheGap
Isaac Heyes – Russell Taylor Group
Export & International Trade Award – Sponsored by Edge Transport Ltd
Congratulations to our finalists:
Cokebusters Ltd
Consort Precision Diamond Co Ltd
Limb-art Ltd
Congratulations to our winner:
Consort Precision Diamond Co Ltd
Business Growth Award – Sponsored by NatWest Business Banking
Congratulations to our finalists:
Cokebusters Ltd
Lavinia Stamps Ltd
Platts Agriculture Ltd
Scanwel Ltd
Congratulations to our winner:
Cokebusters Ltd
Made a Difference Award – Sponsored by Acton Edocs Systems Limited
Congratulations to our finalists:
Cheshire West Voluntary Action
Chester BID
Cokebusters Ltd
Helping Reach Potential Ltd
Menopause 360
Your Space (Marches) Limited
Congratulations to our winner:
Menopause 360
Customer Excellence Award – Sponsored by Chrysalis People Solutions
Congratulations to our finalists:
Limb-art Ltd
Scanwel Ltd
The Literacy Company
Tours Around Chester
Congratulations to our winner:
The Literacy Company
Young Chamber Award – Sponsored by Reserve Forces' & Cadets' Association For Wales
Congratulations to our winner:
Archers Brook SEMH School
Excellence in Sustainability Award – Sponsored by Wrexham Glyndŵr University
Congratulations to our finalists:
Anglesey Sea Zoo
Biking Bookkeeper Ltd
Cyd Innovation Ltd
Congratulations to our winner:
Anglesey Sea Zoo
Ellis & Co Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers Award for Business of the Year
Congratulations to our finalists:
Bathgate Business Finance
JVP Group
Russell Taylor Group
The Literacy Company
Congratulations to our winner:
Russell Taylor Group
A Special Recognition Award was then announced and presented to Professor Phil Harris who has been a long-term supporter of the Chamber and only recently stepped down from the Board of Directors.
Once the awards came to a close, a raffle and auction took place to raise funds for Neuro Therapy Centre, the Chamber’s chosen charity for the year. A total of just under £5,000 was raised which will be used to support the charity’s Virtual Centre which offers support and therapies to people with long term neurological conditions.
Debbie Bryce said:
“This evening’s awards have been an opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate the great work and success of our members. The standard of the award entries was exceptional and we would like to thank each and every one of our members who took the time to complete what was a record number of award nominations. As always, it was an extremely difficult job for the judges to decide who the winners should be, the finalists have achieved so much during what has been an extremely challenging and difficult period. Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all of our sponsors, your support makes nights like these possible!”
“This year’s event was even more special than usual as we’re also celebrating 100 years of the Chamber supporting businesses across our region. It’s an honour and a privilege to be the CEO of our Chamber, particularly during this, our centenary year, and I feel very lucky to have been here to help make a little bit of Chamber history with all in attendance!”
