5th February 2012
Business Excellance Awards 2008
10th Nov 2008
The annual event, staged at the Park Inn in Bedford, on Thursday 6th November, was hosted by TV sports pundit Ray Stubbs and a black tie audience was charmed with a comical speech by former MP and novelist Gyles Brandreth.
The principle of the business awards now in their 15th year is to reward and recognise those companies who have excelled in their area of expertise and have pioneered working practices through such areas as web based commerce, training and environmentally friendly practices.
Bedford Borough Council annually supports the excellence awards and in this current testing economic climate, businesses are in the public conscience and to be marked out as leaders in achieving excellence, is something that they deserve to be recognised for.
Notable winners from the Bedford area were buy-local.net based at the Bedford i-lab on Priory Business Park which won the www.business of the year award, The White Horse on Newnham Avenue for best retail/leisure business and Bedford Borough Council's Land and Property Unit which won the innovation award for its commercial landlord’s accreditation scheme.
The winners on the night were:
Champions of Learning
(sponsored by the Learning & Skills Council)
Winner: Vic Graves, Learning In Action
Highly Commended: The Cutting Corner, Luton.
Green Business Award
(sponsored by Beds County Council)
Winner: Hain Celestial, Luton
Highly Commended: Green-Link (Luton).
Shining Star Award
(sponsored by Barnfield College)
Winner: Catherine Holt, Stopsley High School, Luton
Highly Commended: Rahul Bhikna, Rufios bar, Luton.
Employee Of The Year
(sponsored by Keens Shay Keens)
Winner: Simon Adams, Parallel Ltd, Cranfield
Highly Commended: Iain Pink, e-financial management, Luton
Customer Care Excellence
(sponsored by Premier Newspapers)
Winner: Maxwells Hair & Beauty, Biggleswade
Highly Commended: Steve Hilliard Hairdressing, Luton & Ampthill
www.business of the year
(sponsored by Bedford Borough Council)
Winner: Buy-Local.net Ltd, Bedford
Highly Commended: Asset Resourcing, Luton
Business Training Award
(sponsored by Bedford College Training Services)
Winner: Maxwells Hair & Beauty, Biggleswade
Highly Commended: The Cutting Corner, Luton.
Best Retail/Leisure Business
Winner: The White Horse, Bedford
Highly Commended: Buy-Local.Net Ltd, Bedford.
New Business Of The Year
Winner: Preen Community Interest, Biggleswade
Highly Commended: Nadeem Brothers, Luton
Innovation Award
(sponsored by the University of Bedfordshire)
Winner: Bedford Borough Council's Commercial Landlords Accreditation Scheme.
Highly Commended: Dental Services Direct Equipment Supplies, Dunstable
Small/Medium Business Of The Year
(sponsored by Axis Electronics)
Maxwells Hair & Beauty, Biggleswade
Highly Commended: Parallel Ltd, Cranfield.
Company of the Year
(sponsored by The Chamber)
Maxwells Hair & Beauty, Biggleswade
