Chosen by a panel of distinguished judges from your inspiring entries, the finalists of the are some of the top businesses and organisations across the whole region. Even throughout the difficulties of the past year, they have maintained their entrepreneurial spirit and shown remarkable resilience; constantly supporting our communities and economy with their ambition and passion for their industry.
The grand finale on Thursday, September 23, headline sponsored by and associate sponsored by , is set to be more significant and exciting than ever.
Combining all of the usual sub-regional heats, this year's event is one huge celebration of all of the North East. Live at The Grand Marquee at Hardwick Hall, our business community will be reunited once again to discover the brilliant success stories across the region and find out the 2021 award winners.
For more information, visit the . , email paige.jackson@reachplc.com or call 07825 762 040.
The finalists for the are:
Newcomer of the Year Sponsored by
Green is an environmentally-friendly, tech-driven energy supplier which supplies more than 225,000 customers across the 海角视频 with clean, renewable energy. 94% of customers use its industry-leading app to manage monthly payments and the constantly growing 200 staff members are supported by its automated internal system, Green Studio.
Haystack is a careers and insights marketplace for tech professionals. It allows businesses to more efficiently hire and matches users with suitable roles using its AI-powered system. One of TechNation’s top AI companies to look out for in 2020, it has partners and clients like Sage, Asda and Lloyds Banking Group.
YANA™ Active is an ethically, environmentally and community-mindful women's activewear brand with a mission to empower women through its high-quality, stylish and reliable garments. It has secured pop-up shops in John Lewis and has featured in Women’s Running, Grazia, and Living North.
Small Business Award
Multi-award winning Lingotot is a pioneering children’s language franchise which teaches languages in partnership with schools, communities and parents. It currently teaches more than 20,000 children each week through a network of 54 franchisees who employ a further 60 tutors.
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Lucid Technology Solutions is one of the longest serving IT and communications companies in the North East. It offers a fully integrated service pack including telecoms, IT support and connectivity, while also offering bespoke application and website design, CCTV and door access solutions.
Sweetdreams Ltd is a family-run, confectionery manufacturer which produces a distinctively different range of chocolate products and operates a market-leading chocolate coating and panning business. It has its own unique brands and manufactures goods for major national and international companies.
Apprenticeship, Training and Skills Award Sponsored by
EDM Zone offers electrical discharge machining and computer numerical control components and assemblies. Its team of specialists have years of highly technical experience and to continue to offer innovative solutions, it uses successful and supportive apprenticeship programs to ensure it has the right people to build for the future.
Part of The Verve Group, The Grad Scheme is a structured training programme designed to take anyone, from any background, from entry level to a diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. With a mission to change the face of financial services, the main aim is to attract new talent to the industry and to provide a chance to develop a career.
PD Ports has developed the most ambitious apprenticeship programme in the 海角视频 ports industry and plays an active role in promoting skills and training across the Tees Valley. It supports the next generation through initiatives like Project Hope, High Tide, North East School of Shipping and working with local education organisations.
Smart IT delivers high-performance and reliable IT solutions. The 12-month Smart IT’s Advanced Apprenticeship Scheme provides all the necessary knowledge and experience required to mould a first-class engineer, following with full-time employment and certifying engineers to be Microsoft Certified IT Professionals.
High Growth and Ambition Award Sponsored by
Double Eleven Limited is a full-service video games developer and publisher, working on some of the world’s biggest IPs with some of the globe's largest companies. Its latest release of Rust Console Edition has been a phenomenal success across 50 countries, meaning it is regularly increasing its diverse workforce of more than 200.
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Furniture Clinic Ltd, based in Consett, provides premium cleaning and restoration products and services. To match increases in sales and constantly developing product lines, it has newly acquired more staff and a 50,000 sqft headquarters. With stronger e-commerce and growing exports, it is planning to expand into new territories.
razorblue provides managed IT, cybersecurity services, connectivity, cloud and software solutions to businesses across a wide range of industries. Three of its seven offices are based in the North East and it is currently doubling its Teesside site. It has grown 363% over the last five years and has maintained a near 100% client retention rate in 15 years of business.
SoPost helps brands run powerful and effective product sampling campaigns online, with a focus on relevance, data and analytics. It works with hundreds of brands and ships one sample every two seconds to consumers across the world. In the last 12 months, the team has almost doubled in size, with more recruitment planned in 2021 and expansion into Europe.
Innovation and Technology Award Sponsored by
Double Eleven Limited is a full-service video games developer and publisher, working on some of the world’s biggest IPs, like Minecraft, with some of the globe's largest companies, like Microsoft. It has invested heavily into research and development and recently expanded into the console market and is seeing phenomenal success.
Muckle LLP is a law firm within the North East with a brilliant national reputation, consistently turning ideas into solutions and adding value for clients. The creation of the data and digital team led to Muckle Collect, a secure, quick and cost-effective platform using robot technology to speed up the debt recovery process. This has been a catalyst for the wider introduction of data analysis across the business.
Shoptimised is a Software as a Service platform that specialises in product feed optimisation and incremental sales growth. Its software is used by more than 300 digital agencies and 600 retailers in 13 different countries. It is the fastest growing feed optimisation platform in the 海角视频 and the only to offer ‘automated suggestions’.
Manufacturing Award Sponsored by
Established in 1885, Clearly Drinks is a soft drinks manufacturer offering a range of its own brands alongside an industry-leading contract bottling service. It’s new canning facility is capable of producing 160 million cans per annum and capacity has increased by 20% with its new palletizer.
Haskel is the global leader in high-pressure liquid and gas transfer and compression technology solutions for critical applications in hydrogen mobility; aerospace and defence; energy and other industries. It aims to invest in its Sunderland facility and make it the Hydrogen Centre of Excellence within the group globally.
Redrose Nutraceutical Manufacturer is a capsule, tablet and softgel manufacturer and supplier providing an extensive range of nutraceutical solutions. The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and team can produce up to five million capsules per day and has one of the fastest turnaround times in the industry.
Services Award Sponsored by
Clarity Informatics is a IT healthcare solutions provider used by around half of the clinical workforce within the NHS. It creates innovative compliance, learning and workforce solutions that are cost-effective and time-saving to allow focus on patient care and safety.
Everflow Water makes utilities simple with its award-winning retail sales, billing and customer management platform. It has become the 海角视频's fastest, organically growing water retailer and has been named Europe’s third fastest growing company by the Financial Times.
razorblue provides managed IT, cybersecurity services, connectivity, cloud and business software solutions to businesses across a wide range of industries. It is partnered with industry-leading suppliers and has been awarded Microsoft Gold Partner Status.
Heart of the Community Award Sponsored by
Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, based in Hartlepool, has more than 100 stores and a local market hall. It plays an important role as a civic anchor and drives economic regeneration, environmental and wellbeing initiatives to engage with the community. The Hartlepool Giving Tree has run for ten years but went viral in 2020, with 174,000 gifts delivered.
Law firm Muckle LLP has a passion and desire to have a sustained, positive impact on the North East community. Some strategies include giving employees paid volunteering leave; supporting the North East Ethical Business Network and apprenticeships; providing free services and making charitable grants in excess of £560,000 through its Muckle Community Fund.
Newcastle Building Society is the biggest building society in the North East. Since 2016, the financial support from its community fund has surpassed £2.1 million. Its initiatives support customer, community and colleague wellbeing, like its six-year partnership with Newcastle United Foundation and £3 million donation to the Bobby Robson Foundation Trust.
Northumberland FA is a not-for-profit organisation committed to using the power of football to inspire, unite and create opportunities for all. Its work with the Football Foundation has provided grants worth £3.7 million to local clubs and throughout the pandemic it provided education, a financial hardship fund and supported community initiatives.
Covid-19 Response Award Sponsored by
AkzoNobel is a decorative paints and coatings manufacturer, with some of its brands including Dulux, Polycell and Cuprinol. The site in Ashington had no coronavirus cases originate from the site due to its practices that were further implemented across Europe, including shift changes, weekly reports, new policies and extra support for employee’s families.
Mobile Mini 海角视频 Ltd is a secure storage containers and site accommodations provider. It ensured that the risk of Covid-19 could be managed internally, allowing prompt service externally, and supplied hundreds of accommodation units to the NHS for pop-up testing, vaccination and doctor's clinics. The Mobile Mini Meals campaign saw approximately £20,000 raised for food banks across the nation.
On a Roll Sandwich Company is an innovative sandwich manufacturer based in Middlesbrough. Due to its quick actions, manufacturing was undisturbed as employees were supported by additional controls and procedures, with no cases contracted internally. It continually recruited throughout and regularly donated mass deliveries and PPE to those in need and in the NHS.
St Oswald’s Hospice helps people across the North East who have life-limiting conditions to enjoy the best possible quality of life, completely free of charge. Its frontline services extended even further during the pandemic to delivering new ambulatory care services, developing a bereavement training programme and adapting to provide vital support the most vulnerable.
Northumberland and Tyneside Company of the Year Sponsored by
AkzoNobel is the world’s leading decorative paints and coatings manufacturer, best known for brands like Dulux, Polycell and Cuprinol. The site in Ashington is designed to be the most advanced and sustainable paint manufacturing facility of its kind and is now in 24/7 operation, creating 180 jobs for local people whilst supporting more than 100 additional roles in the local supply chain.
Bazaar Group is the designer, manufacturer and retailer of Britain’s best-loved beanbags. Earning its status as soft-seating category leaders, the company has seen accelerated growth over the past 15 years and consistently ranks as a top performer on large e-commerce platforms.
Bloom Procurement Services is the 海角视频’s only public sector marketplace offering an end-to-end managed service procurement solution. It works primarily with SME suppliers and its open-access marketplace gives them more opportunities alongside established businesses.
Durham, Sunderland and South Tyneside Company of the Year
Learning Curve Group is a national training and education specialist, supporting more than 200,000 learners and 4,500 employers and FE providers a year to achieve success. Throughout the pandemic, it still reached its goal of transforming one million lives through learning, alongside donating £20,000 to the County Durham Covid-19 Relief Fund.
Premier Roof Systems Limited is a team of hardworking and professional individuals offering design, manufacture, supply and installation of high-performance systems within the fenestration industry to improve people’s home living experience. It has recently made its first acquisition and digitalised for further reach nationwide, while still maintaining high customer satisfaction.
Redrose Nutraceutical Manufacturer is a tablet, capsule and softgel manufacturer and supplier working with start-ups to multi-million pound corporations. More than 40% of all products are exported and distributed worldwide, quicker than the industry standard timescale and using premium materials from the EU and 海角视频.
Teesside Company of the Year Sponsored by
Family-run Cleveland Containers supplies shipping containers and provides modification services, creating bespoke units for a wide variety of projects and businesses. It delivers 400 containers a week and operates out of more than 15 depots across the nation.
Double Eleven Limited is a full-service video games developer and publisher, working on some of the world’s biggest IPs with some of the globe's largest companies. It heavily invests in research and development and its latest release of Rust Console Edition has been a phenomenal success across 50 countries.
PD Ports operates in 12 key locations across the 海角视频 to provide thousands of businesses with essential access to global markets. Its main operation at Teesport is the only major port in England to handle more exports than imports. It plans to elevate the River Tees to become the 海角视频’s most successful port region by 2050.
The winners of the above three awards will then go head-to-head for the title of: North East Company of the Year, sponsored by .
The will take place at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, on Thursday, September 23.
To buy tickets or for any queries: email paige.jackson@reachplc.com or call 07825 762 040