In her speech following her recent re-election as Dorset Chamber president Caron Khan, praised the county’s businesses for their perseverance, ambition, resilience and willingness to evolve in the face of the pandemic.
It would be the understatement of the year to say that 2021, much like 2020, offered far from the ideal conditions for doing business this year.
Yet in the face of adversity, companies across Dorset, and talented entrepreneurs and staff have been able to record some remarkable achievements - and their efforts are being recognised.
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Let’s take a look at eight Dorset companies and business people that have won awards over the past 12 months.
Field International
The Poole-based engineering company serves a global customer base across the aerospace, transport, energy and medical industries. Its services include repairs and tooling for the complete range of Boeing aircraft from 737 to 787.
Founded by the Booker family in 1995, the high-flying group has manufacturing facilities in Singapore and China, and has continued with its global expansion this year, setting up new bases in the US, the UAE and India.
Judges at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual Chamber Business Awards in December were impressed with the company's ability to continue to build its global presence, despite the pandemic, and awarded it with the ‘Global Player’ award, for the Export Business of The Year.
Richard Marples, group business development director at Field International, said, “We are honoured to have won the award. It is a fantastic achievement by the team who have shown grit and determination in expanding the business globally and moving the company forward during difficult times in the world.”
Yunex Traffic
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The global manufacturing base of tech giant Siemens’ intelligent traffic systems business is in Poole. Here the company develops traffic signals, controllers and sensors to keep people safe on the roads.
At the regional Manufacturing Matters awards for the south of England arranged by Make 海角视频 in October it was also recognised for its “outstanding efforts” in keeping its employees safe, through the roll out of it’s Covid-19 rapid testing programme.
The company reported that up to October when the awards took place, with all of of its distancing and safety measures being adhered to, it had only received one false positive result.
As a regional winner the business will progress to the national finals of the awards which are scheduled to be held in London in January.
Wilke Reints, managing director for Yunex Traffic in the 海角视频 said: “It’s been inspiring to see the entire team adapt to new safety measures to protect one another during a really challenging time and I’m delighted that we’ve been recognised by Make 海角视频 for our efforts.”
Brad Hansford, Meyer’s Estate Agents
Having established himself in the industry Brad Hansford joined estate agency Meyer’s in 2019 and is a director for its office in Shaftesbury.
Mr Hansford was awarded ‘highly commended’ in the New Agency of the Year category at The Negotiator Awards, a national competition where finalists were announced to over 1,000 guests at a gala dinner, hosted by TV presenter and comedian Rob Beckett, at the five-star Grosvenor House on Park Lane.
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Alongside partner Tamsin Bell, Mr Hansford was recognised for his achievements in setting up a highly successful agency during a challenging period for the residential property market.
Mark Meyer, chief executive of Meyers Estate Agents said: “We are so proud of Brad and Tamsin’s achievement. As franchisees they have worked diligently to ensure Meyers is always at the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to buying or selling property in the Shaftesbury area and in a short space of time have created a superb and successful agency. “
Gary French, Bovis Homes
In front of an audience of sector peers at a ceremony in Bournemouth in November, Mr French, a senior site manager, was awarded a Seal of Excellence for his contribution to the construction of Bovis Homes’ Blackmore Meadows housing development in Stalbridge.
The accolade was awarded to around 20 of the top site managers in the South West. As well as undergoing spot checks on the day-to-day running of the sites, each candidate was assessed across all areas of site management, including their technical knowledge, consistency in the build process and the quality controls they have in place.
Mr French was able to build on his success from earlier in the year when he picked up a ‘Pride in The Job’ prize from warranty and insurance provider National House Building Council.
Mr French was previously an area build manager but missed running his own site. He started his career as a forklift driver before moving into site management
Mr French said: “Stalbridge is such a beautiful location, being on site and hearing the cows in the field, and seeing the views around you, makes it a wonderful place to work.
“I’m really honoured to be part of the team and It’s great to be working for a company that's going from strength to strength."
Paul Moran, South West managing director for Bovis Homes' parent company Vistry Group, said: "To have earnt this award is commendable but to have won in such a challenging year – with Covid restrictions and social distancing – is seriously impressive.
"Gary and his whole team rose to the challenge and it’s been wonderful to hear from customers delighted with their new homes, as that’s what it’s all about.”
The Bournemouth Development Company
The public-private partnership between Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council and national urban regenerator Muse Developments, was recognised for its work on a £12m apartment complex called Treetops.
Located in Bournemouth town centre on the site of a former car park, the development offers 46 one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The apartments are operated as a private-sector rental scheme through BCP Council’s wholly owned company, Seascape Homes and Property.
Built by local contractors Parsons and Joyce, the development is providing a return to the council for investment in future regeneration projects.
At the LABC Building Excellence Awards the project was named under the best high volume new housing development (more than 30 units) in the South West, and went through to the national awards, which are set to take place in London in January.
Toby Marden, senior development manager at Bournemouth Development Company, said: “We’re committed to repurposing under-used sites in partnership to benefit communities and in this case we’ve used a local contractor, which employs local people to build the scheme. Together with BCP Council, the Treetops development has transformed this once unloved site into a series of stunning apartments that drive local economic growth.”
Spyrosoft
The global software engineering company is headquartered in Poland but their 海角视频 arm is based in Ferndown. While the company as a whole was ranked in the top five in Europe by the Financial Times in its annual list of 1,000 fastest-growing companies, its British base has been making waves too.
The company has delivered outdoor leisure applications for Ordnance Survey, as well as AI and machine learning solutions that have helped large organisations plan Covid lockdown strategies. The firm has also developed its own debt management software, aimed at banks and financial services.
One of Spyrosoft’s senior leaders in the 海角视频 Duncan Johnson was named in the CIO 100, a list of the top 100 chief information officers working with progressive and growing independent companies.
Mr Johnson’s leadership in developing partnerships with larger clients and local SMEs was cited in his listing by tech industry experts CIO magazine.
Mr Johnson said: “Spyrosoft truly is at the cutting edge of technological development of workplace practices and we are helping some of the biggest companies and organisations in the 海角视频 to create the systems that make their businesses work better.
“We have come a long way as a business in the past two years - I am proud to have been a part of that and to be able to push the boundaries of what technology can deliver further still.”
Purbeck Ice Cream
The Dorset dairy brand was founded by farmers Peter and Hazel Hartle more than 30 years ago when the couple ran a herd of 60 cattle on land near the historic Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula.
The family-run business’ range of ice creams and sorbets, made from locally sourced ingredients, is now sold worldwide from seaside attractions in its home county, to stores aboard P&O cruise ships, luxury hotels and restaurants.
As well as ice cream, the business has scooped plenty of prizes in its times, and in 2021 it won gold Taste of the West awards for its Raspberry Sorbet, Chocolate Orange Ice Cream and our Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream. It also won a silver award for our Rum & Raisin ice cream.
Marketing consultancy Taste of the West is the largest independent regional food group in the 海角视频 and was established to promote and support local food and drink producers in the South West.
Red Security Systems
The Bournemouth-based security alarm firm has put itself in the company of some of the world’s biggest brands after being recognised with two major accolades this year.
The company received the Communitas Award for Corporate Social Responsibility for its support for vulnerable customers.
The business runs a pioneering initiative that allows customers to donate their old security systems, which it then refurbishes and installs free of charge for charities, most recently for armed forces charity SSAFA Dorset.
Previous winners of the award include Coca-Cola, Barclays and Warner Bros.
Red Security Systems was also recognised by a judging panel of representatives from firms including Starbucks, Deloitte and Google when it achieved the Gold standard in the Customer Sales and Service Excellence Awards.
The company’s managing director, Yann Maciejewski said: “We’ve always been proud of the service we deliver, but to get independent validation from such highly-respected judges – and against companies around the world – is just amazing.
“It also shows that small, local companies deliver as good, if not better, service than some of the world’s biggest companies and I hope will encourage people to use local companies more generally”.
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