More than 130 people packed the room at the inaugural Wakefield Business Awards by We Are Wakefield on 10 November, sponsored by Wakefield First.
The awards had been put together by WAW MD Claire Sutherley & Awards Writers Founder Louise Turner, to celebrate thriving SMEs from across the district, and the night itself, hosted at the sparkling CAPA College, didn’t disappoint.
With 31 finalists from all corners of the district across categories spanning growth, new business, sustainability, best employer, community contribution, and innovation, the trophies were hotly contested.
ITV’s Christine Talbot anchored the night, which saw Solupak take home two trophies – for Thinking Sustainability and the We Are Wakefield member award, which was given to the member entry with the highest number of points across all categories.
We Are Wakefield’s Managing Director Claire Sutherley said: “We had this crazy idea of setting up some awards earlier in the year because we really believe in championing Wakefield businesses and providing a platform for them to show off their amazing work.
“It was incredible to listen to so many success stories and hear the judges’ comments about our worthy winners.
“We worked hard to create a really robust process with every entry judged three times and scores kept separate, so all of the winners can be really proud of their achievement.”
The winners on the night were:
- Innovative business of the year – Tagtiv8
- Large business growth success story – Quest Waste Management
- Medium business growth success story – MINT Support
- Small business growth success story – RV2 Power
- Thinking sustainability – Solupak
- Outstanding community engagement – Frickley Athletic in the Community Foundation
- New business of the year – The Hive Wakefield
- Entrepreneur of the year – Chelsy Holland of True Beauty Academy
- Large employer of the year – Elis
- Medium employer of the year – Bluebird Care Wakefield & Kirklees and Northern Media (two winners)
- Small employer of the year – Juice Personnel
- We Are Wakefield member of the year – Solupak