Best of Blackburn and Darwen honoured at business bash

The borough’s best businesses have been given special recognition at the first ever Hive Blackburn and Darwen Business Awards.

Hive is a group of business leaders working together to inspire prosperity and is supported by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.

Finalists were joined by dignitaries, sponsors, judges and supporters at an exclusive black-tie event held at Blackburn Cathedral where the winners were announced and celebrated on stage.

To take home a trophy, organisations and individuals first had to undergo a rigorous judging process which sorted the good from the great.  Awards were presented across a range of categories, including titles for those that showed the most creativity, manufacturing excellence, high growth and international achievement, as well as young entrepreneur and bright spark awards for individuals.

Khalid Saifullah, a director of Star Tissue and chairman of the Hive Network, which hosted the awards, said: “The inaugural Blackburn and Darwen Business Awards has been a fantastic success. Our goal was to showcase the extraordinary work being undertaken within the borough, and anybody who looks at the list of finalists and winners will realise what a truly special region this is.

“The awards really highlight the fantastic businesses we have within the borough and we’re pleased they’ve taken this opportunity to shout about what they do and celebrate the extraordinary people working for them.”

Metal fabrication and engineering services company WEC Group were triple winners on the night picking up The Eureka Award for innovation and the much sought-after Manufacturing Excellence Award. In addition to this young employee James Pickles was named winner of The Bright Spark Award for the vital role he plays for the company.

Headline sponsors of the Hive Blackburn and Darwen Business Awards are Blackburn College and Capita. The awards are also supported by Bowker Motor Group, Business and Enterprise Trust, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Forbes Solicitors, Heritage Envelopes, Napthens Solicitors, Pierce, Precision Polymer Engineering (PPE), Ronset, Royal Bank of Scotland and Taheedul Eudcation Trust. Media partners are The Bee FM, Square Cactus, Lancashire Business View and BBC Radio Lancashire.

The event was managed by award-winning  Blackburn-based, Fettle Events.

The Newcomer Award – Sponsored by Business & Enterprise Trust

• Access Ability CIC
• Praetura Asset Finance
• Prefix Systems – WINNER
• Pure Star Cleaning

The Investing in the Future Award – Sponsored by Tauheedul Education Trust

• Lance Mason
• Northern Industrial
• Twin Valley Homes -WINNER
• WEC Group

The High Growth Award – Sponsored by Napthens

• Access Ability CIC
• AMT Lawyers
• Lance Mason Solicitors – WINNER
• Northern Industrial

The Bright Spark Award – Sponsored by Bowker Motor Group

• Daniel Devitt, Blackburn Alarms
• Lynsey Doran, Chase Templeton
• Megan Gallacher, Twist Event Catering
• James Pickles, WEC Group – WINNER

The International Achievement Award – Sponsored by East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce

• Contrado Digital
• Northern Industrial
• Precision Polymer Engineering – WINNER
• Sovereign Beverage Company

The Eureka Award – Sponsored by Heritage Envelopes

• Prefix Systems
• Scancapture
• Twist Event Catering
• WEC Group – WINNER

The Young Entrepreneur Award – Sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland

• Daniel Halenko, Blackburn Alarms
• Daniel Coletta, Chocolat By Daniel Coletta – WINNER
• Michael Cropper, Contrado Digital
• Sonia Duffin, Duffin’s Estate Agents

The Creative Agency Award – Sponsored by Parkinson Signs

• Contrado Digital
• Gregory Audio Visual
• Source Creative
• TPW Design Consultants – WINNER 

The Enterprise in Education Award – Sponsored by Forbes Solicitors

• Blackburn College
• Darwen Aldridge Community Academy – WINNER
• Training 2000
• Westholme School

The Manufacturing Excellence Award – Sponsored by Pierce CA

• Precision Polymer Engineering
• Prefix Systems
• WEC Group – WINNER
• Woodscape

NOMINATED AWARDS

The Arte et Labore Award – Andrew Graham – WINNER
The Hive Chairman’s Award – Accrol Papers – WINNER