Success has been championed in a new era for the Hull and East Yorkshire Business Awards.
On a freezing night in the midst of a cold snap, Ideal Heating’s pioneering work to revolutionise the way UK homes are warmed secured a double win. The National Avenue operation was named Large Business of the Year and took the Environmental and Sustainability Award, hours after welcoming Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, with further investment in the city unveiled.
Ideal has significantly enhanced its century-old site to manufacture heat pumps and other heating controls, while creating state-of-the-art research and development and training bases on its doorstep. Jason Speedy, chief operating officer, arrived at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel having already celebrated securing £5.2 million as part of the Government’s Heat Pump Investment Accelerator with his Groupe Atlantic colleagues.
“To win as we have done is just incredible,” he said. “It is testament to everyone.
“It was a complete pivot for the business. I joined five years ago, in the week it got announced gas boilers were being taken out of the market. For us it has been all about getting out stakeholders on board, selling them the journey and the commitment to the UK research and development and manufacturing – then living what we are proposing.”
Hull-born actor and impressionist Debra Stephenson hosted the event, with live drummers setting a high tempo. And there was clearly a high bar set to win big in the first edition of the awards under the stewardship of Top 30 Under 30 founder Simon Jones and events specialist Jane Smallwood, with the duo taking the baton on from Hull Daily Mail publisher Reach Plc. A new judging process brought face-to-face visits as well as desk top analysis into the fold.
Entrepreneur of the Year for 2024 is James Crumpton, of Laundry Box UK. He is credited with bringing rapid expansion to a long-standing family laundrette service rooted in the city.
An M&S graduate who returned from commercial roles in London with the high street giant to drive the evolution, said: “This means the world, it is a great. We all work so hard every day, with so many people involved. Turnover has gone through the roof, we have achieved UK firsts and changed the concept of laundrettes – Dot Cotton has gone out of the window! “We’re offering something different, the timing is right, and having been in Hull for such a long time, it is going far better than expected.”
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Rubicon Bridge won the Innovation Award as it prepares to launch its regulatory compliance tool for food, drink and health supplements on a huge platform. The Hull-based business, located within C4Di, has made great strides in automation.
Kathryn Szymonowicz, managing director, said: “I’m incredibly proud, it is absolutely fantastic and all down to great teamwork. The life of an entrepreneur is not an easy one, so to get this recognition on the journey is fantastic and it means an awful lot.
“We’re not funded, we’ve bootstrapped our way up, and it can be a slug. Now we’re about to launch on Amazon globally, so it is perfect timing.”
Expertise honed with Galpharm and Seven Seas was channelled into the business, which now employs 45 people in Hull, the Netherlands and the US.
Care Connection Partners took the Growth Award. In just three years the Hull firm has grown to have 300 staff on the books, recruiting for a range of settings. “My whole team deserve every little bit of this, I am so proud of them,” said founder and managing director Deborah Stock. “It is acknowledgement we are doing it right, and every day we strive to do it better and make it better. We want to bring the best to healthcare.”
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Start-up Business of the Year is Daniel Alexander Motor Group in Melton. It specialises in luxury used vehicles. One of the three founding directors, Daniel Watts, said: “This is amazing. As a new start-up we’ve worked hard, and it has been very stressful, so to get an award like this when we’ve not yet traded for two years is a fantastic feeling. It is great to get our name out there.”
Youth support and outreach provider Wild Intervention was named Small Business of the Year. Caine Wild leads by example, having defied expectations from his childhood, launching the Hessle business from scratch, during Covid, four years ago.
“This is great for us and the young people we work with,” he said. “I was told I would never achieve anything, and I have proved to the young people and the teachers that doubted me that the impossible is possible. If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything, and this is brilliant.”
Global graphics leader takes lifetime achievement award
One of Hull’s founding digital fathers has been celebrated with the Hull and East Yorkshire Business Awards Lifetime Achievement accolade. David Keel’s incredible achievements in business building and start-up support were recognised in fine style at the climax of the event.
The C4Di chair made his mark in the global graphics sphere, as a leading figure behind what became Sonoco-Trident. It is just over 30 years since a team was pulled together from printing firm Harlands of Hull to explore emerging digital opportunities, with Mr Keel leading the pioneering operation. It went on to work for some of the biggest global brands and was acquired by a billion-dollar backed US giant, going on to eventually employ 750 people. From Hull to Beverley, before settling in Kingswood, internationally it has branched out to the US and Asia, Australia and Brazil.
“It was marvellous to be recognised by the city I was born in, grew up in and founded businesses in,” Mr Keel said. “That recognition is magnificent.”
Commendations from those who knew him best were played out to the 460-strong audience, on their feet when it came to the award presentation. “How blessed am I to have so many amazing people to say such wonderful things,” he said, with “visionary” a recurring word.
And, like several other winners, he was full of praise for the evening. “It has been brilliantly organised, they have taken it over and taken it to a totally new level,” he added.
At the opposite end of the scale, John Good Group’s Chloe Lawson received the first award of the evening as 2024’s Rising Star. The junior people officer at the Hessle firm said: “It is absolutely amazing, it means everything to me. I am still so early in my career. We’ve achieved so much in the 18 months since I started with the company, and it is great recognition for what we are doing.”
Team of the Year went to the Wescot Credit Services Ltd’s 16-strong commercial collective.
Rachel Garner, team manager, said: “It is absolutely amazing. We have gone through such a rapid period of growth since February. The team has been so collaborative, and they put every ounce of effort into what they do, producing amazing results.”
City giant Reckitt was recognised as Best Place to Work. Bruce Charlesworth, chief medical officer and Hull lead for Reckitt, said: “I’m really, really proud. The effort we put into people, the way we develop our people and the culture we have on site is absolutely outstanding.”
Staff numbers have gone from 1,300 to 2,000 in recent years. “To have the recognition is amazing,” he added.
A new award was Charity of the Year. It went to Tigers Sport and Education Trust.
Catherine Bishop, chief executive for the past six years, said it was a fabulous parting celebration as she prepares to step down. “This means so much to us. We have worked really hard for the last six years. I leave shortly, the Trust is in an amazing place, and to go forward having this as part of the chapter is phenomenal.”
Connexin was headline partner for the event, with deputy chief executive and co-founder Alex Yeung praising the entrepreneurial spirit in the room ahead of presenting Mr Keel with his award. Bondholders, C3 Group, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, For Entrepreneurs Only, Fred Marketing , GW Power-Safe, Horncastle Group, Hull City Council, MKM, Sewell Group , University of Hull and Wilkin Chapman were all principal partners.
Cobus Communications Group was programme partner for the night, with the drinks reception sponsored by DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel . Hull Daily Mail and Hull Live publisher Reach Plc was official media partner.
Hull & East Yorkshire Business Awards 2024 shortlist:
Start-Up Business of the Year (Less than two years old)
Winner: Daniel Alexander Motor Group Limited
Runner-up: Laundry Box.
Small Business of the Year (Less than 50 employees)
Winner: Wild Intervention Ltd
Youth support and outreach provider based out of Hessle.
Runners-up: All Vision, Giant Bradley’s Sweet Shop.
Best Place to Work
Winner: Reckitt.
Runners-up: City Health Care Partnership CIC, Sadofskys.
Environmental & Sustainability Award
Winner: Ideal Heating
Hull-based boiler, heat pump and heating control specialist
Runners-up: John Good Group
Charity of the Year
Winner: Tigers Sport and Education Trust
Runners-up: Chasing Rainbows; Hull & East Yorkshire Children’s University
Innovation Award
Winner: Rubicon Bridge Ltd
Runners-up: Think 360, WJ Group
Entrepreneur of the Year
Winner: James Crumpton
Runners-up: Luke Bottomley, director of James Ray Recruitment; Paul Needler,
founder of iParcelBox
Team of the Year
Winner: Wescot Credit Services
Runners-up: Premier Modular, Siemens Gamesa
Large Business of the Year
Winner: Ideal Heating
Runners-up: Reckitt, Soanes Poultry Ltd
Growth Award
Winner: Care Connection Partners
Runners-up: Accountancy Tuition Academy, Good Travel Management
Rising Star
Winner: Chloe Lawson – junior people advisor at John Good Group
Runners-up: Ben Fincham, process and industrial engineer at Siemens Gamesa; Jak McLoughlin, affiliate manager at Summit in Hull.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: David Keel
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