Business editor JULIE HAYES speaks to previous winners at The Press Business Awards about the additional benefits their victory brought them.
IN DIFFICULT economic times it is important to highlight success stories, celebrating businesses which are going the extra mile and entrepreneurs embarking on new ventures.
This is what The Press Business Awards aims to do when it recognises success in 17 categories at a black-tie gala dinner in November.
Furthermore, The Press Business Awards has also helped winning businesses to raise their profile, meet customers and generate leads.
Dr Paul Gibson, chief executive of PureNet, which has gained four awards at the event over the years, said its wins had resulted in concrete benefits in the form of generating new business leads.
He said: “The Press Business Awards has been very good for us locally and when we won, each time, it’s such an exhilaration. It gives us the impetus to carry on.”
The business won New Business Of The Year in 2007, Small Business Of The Year in 2009, and Science and Technology Business Of The Year in 2010 and 2011.
He said: “It has given us profile in the York area, which we wouldn’t have had without them, and we’ve met people in the York area that we wouldn’t have met, so as a networking event and all in all it’s been fantastic for us.
“All the awards are on show in the board room so when a customer comes in it forms the start of a good conversation and gives us credibility the first time we meet somebody. It also helps us with PR because we can talk about being a multi-award-winning company. We generate more leads because we have got the credibility behind us,” he said.
Jon Dean, owner of Heworth bike shop Cycle Street (York), won New Business Of The Year at The Press Business Awards 2011 for his achievements in setting up his own business after being made redundant. In less than a year, he achieved almost £250,000 turnover and earned the respect of the cycling community, and he hopes to make a return to the event this year.
“Certainly a lot of people saw it in The Press and it was a talking point. It gave people more confidence in us as a new business and is definitely worth doing,” he said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here