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A night of celebrations  View
our photo gallery of all the winners from the big night. You
can browse and order photos hereDuring a glittering ceremony on Thursday evening, the tropical fruit import and packing company was presented with the Barclays Bank sponsored ultimate accolade of the local business world. But that was really only one more chapter in a meteoric success story which looks set to run and run. Launched 10 years ago the company hasincreased its sales 20-fold to a figure now topping £30 million a year. Employing 120 people at Spalding, it now regularly supplies Waitrose, Tesco and many other major outlets with lines as diverse as cherries from Tasmania, mangoes from Peru and even miniature pineapples from the remote Reunion Island. It currently imports from 37 countries, holds a third of the UK market for fresh cherries and 35 per cent of that for all niche tropical fruits. Rapidly developing business in Europe and the Eastern bloc in particular is allowing continuing growth at a time of consolidation and supply rationalisation among top UK food retailers. The presentation ceremony, held at the Peterborough Moat House, included - in true Oscar style - video profiles of all 24 finalists in the awards and was preceded by a champagne reception sponsored by Badenock & Clark, specialists in recruitment for the accountancy and finance sectors. Television presenter Nicholas Owen introduced the glittering awards ceremony. Electricity meter maker Ampy Automation Digilog Ltd and Hunt & Coombs Solicitors were also finalists in the Business of the Year category.  Utopia
UK Ltd joint managing director Nigel West (winner:
Business Person of the Year) was dancing on air after winning the Greenwoods
Solicitors-sponsored Business Person of the Year Award trophy to stand alongside
his firm's Business of the Year Award. He is a driving force in a Utopian
performance which has seen it record its fourth successive 17 per cent annual
sales increase. pictured: Nigel West, joint managing director of Utopia UK Ltd, who was named Business Person of the Year 2003 Travelling the world to source new lines and strike new deals, he has been a major player in rapidly developing new business, especially in Europe. Helping institute a companywide culture of tenacity, and the understanding by all that success depends on keeping suppliers, retailers and consumers happy simultaneously, he has been active in instituting economies of scale. Other new developments include dedicated production in Peru and joint ventures which enable the company to be first to market with out-of-season products. The other finalists were Physiosupplies founder Craig Fleming, of Spalding, and managing director of the MAHA UK Ltd garage equipment business, Gus Gregory. • To keep up to date with all the local Business news, go to our Business home page 
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Business
of the Year Award sponsored by: Barclays  Chris Jackson, centre, area director of Barclays, presenting the Business of the Year Award to Utopia UK Ltd Finalists: Utopia UK Ltd Ampy Automation Digilog Ltd Hunt & Coombs Solicitors Business Person of the Year Award sponsored by: Greenwood Solicitors Finalists: Nigel West, MD, Utopia UK Ltd Craig Fleming, MD, FMS Ltd, T/A Physiosupplies Gus Gregory, MD, MAHA UK Ltd |
 Small
Growing Business Award - winners: Precise Component Manufacture Ltd sponsored by: Baker Tilly PRECISE Component Manufacture Ltd, based in March, near Peterborough, has won the Baker Tilly-sponsored Small Growing Business Award. Set up three years ago to provide specialist engineering services to major players in high technology growth markets, it is doing rather well at just that. It exceeded its first year targets by 200 per cent, doubled those figures again in 2002, expects to turn over well in excess of £1 million this year and has invested £400,000 in technology. Typically its output can range from titanium and plastic implant components used by surgeons in spinal operations to parts for the electro-mechanical DNA testing equipment which has helped change the face of forensics, medicine and even anthropology. Knowing that growth and profitability would only come by focusing on three key areas, it set out to develop a reputation for: consistently delivering high quality, high spec products on time at competitive prices, having a highly skilled and motivated workforce, and staying at the forefront of manufacturing technology. Courier Elite Ltd, of Orton Southgate, and the Physiosupplies physiotherapy equipment retail business based in Spalding, also made the final frame. Paul Temple, of Baker Tilly, award sponsors, presented them with the award. Gavin Goates, managing director of Precise Component Manufacture Ltd, said: "It's just a dream come true to win this award. It's down to the whole team. When we started out, myself and Kevin Miller, who is joint managing director, were working 14 hours a day but we've managed to build up the business and this award justifies what we've done."
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 Small Growing Business Award winners Precise Component Manufacture Ltd Finalists: Precise Component Manufacture Ltd Courier Elite Ltd FMS Ltd, T/A Physiosupplies |
| Customer Care
Award - winners: Coloplast Ltd sponsored by: Norwich and Peterborough Building Society PETERBOROUGH-BASED Coloplast Ltd will take good care of its brand new Norwich and Peterborough Building Society-sponsored Customer Care Award trophy. The company has tens of thousands of individual end-user customers - many of whom are living with the after-effects of operations and/or serious illnesses and rely on the medical devices for stoma, continence and wound care it distributes. With that backdrop it just has to be ahead of the customer service game to stay in business, and its dedicated team of 30 has to be sensitivity, tolerance, compassion and efficiency personified. Team members are tasked with always exceeding customers' expectations, getting it right first time, every time, and accomplishing deliveries within 24 hours of order. And they must be doing a lot right a lot of the time, as the UK arm of a Danish group is achieving double figure sales growth year on year and currently turning over about £80 million per annum. Its core business is sales of medical devices to customers, ranging from specialist nurses - who know precisely what they want - to people living at home with their problems. The Bretton Medical Practice and Minster General Housing Association, both based here in Peterborough, also won through to the finals. Matthew Bullock, chief executive of sponsors, the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, presented the award to the team from Coloplast Ltd. Dawn Tocco, customer care manager for Coloplast Ltd, said: "I'm very, very pleased to accept the award on behalf of our fantastic customer care team. "We've all worked very hard, and this award is in recognition of our efforts."
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 Matthew Bullock, chief executive of the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, presents the Customer Care Award to Coloplast Ltd Finalists: Coloplast Ltd Bretton Medical Practice Minster General Housing Association |
 Training
Award - winners: Frontlinesponsored by: Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce PETERBOROUGH-BASED Frontline was right up front to win the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce-sponsored Training Award. The Investors in People accredited company distributes 360 million magazine copies a year to 55,000 UK outlets - more than 120,000 tonnes of paper. Heavily dependent on its 200 staff to get things right first time, every day of the year, it puts great emphasis on staff having the skills necessary, for both today and the future. A dedicated team within the personnel department oversees a two-year corporate learning and development programme, which includes job-needs-related training - allocated as a result of twice-yearly reviews for all staff - while two days' general training is also available to everyone each year. It also has two management development programmes, adaptable to individual needs, and supports people working towards professional qualifications by paying costs and granting study leave. Details of the learning and development programme opportunities are instantly available to all staff electronically through a specially developed company-wide intranet. Courses are flexible with outline content being adapted in advance to meet delegates' stated learning objectives, so maximising their value on the day. Hunt & Coombs Solicitors, of Peterborough, and the Image International hairdressing salon in Spalding, also made the final. Ronnie Baker, president of Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce, presented the award. Richard Elliot, of Frontline, said: "The award is a recognition of the quality of our training. We feel it brings a lot to the business."
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 Ronnie Baker, president of Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce, left, presenting the Training Award to Frontline Finalists: Frontline Hunt & Coombs Solicitors Image International |
| Environment Award
- winners: Swedeponic UK Ltd sponsored by: Business Link BOURNE-BASED Swedeponic UK Ltd has grown in stature by winning the Business Link for Cambridgeshire-supported Environment Award. The Swedish-backed company grows eight million pots of herbs a year for supermarket chain customers, using environmentally friendly methods, and is keen to keep anything 'non-green' out of the process. The operation is pesticide free, 90 per cent of the water it uses in its hydroponic horticulture - troughs filled with water and nutrient 'soup' - is collected from rainfall and it recycles its cardboard waste. It has Soil Association certification and is part-funding a research project in which an Aberdeen University student is developing ways of converting waste cardboard into a good compost medium for growing organic herbs. It operates from a state-of-the-art glasshouse covering an area roughly equivalent to three-and-a-half football pitches at Bourne, where it currently employs more than 30 people in producing herbs 52 weeks a year to ensure they're always fresh when they reach the supermarket shelves. The plant was established in '98 and sends its recyclable waste to Organic Recycling Ltd, at Crowland. Stephen Hampson, of Business Link, presented the award. Swedeponic's managing director Mark Powell said: "This award gives us confidence and credibility in terms of what we've done over the last few years. We hope this will help us ensure the business remains strong in the future." Cartridge World Peterborough, which re-manufactures used toner and inkjet cartridges, and Peterborough-based The Elliott Group - Britain's largest modular building manufacturer - were also finalists.
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| Innovation Award
- winners: Advanced Handling Ltd sponsored by: East of England Development Agency ADVANCED Handling Ltd, of Market Deeping, has picked up the East of England Development Agency-backed Business Innovation Award. Its business is making machines typically used for lifting boxes in warehouses, with top electrical goods retailers such as Currys, Dixons, Comet and the Boxclever group being among customers for its battery powered Voyager Freedom weight-lifter. To provide customers with flexible solutions it has also developed a lighter-duty, lower cost, version of its award-winning main range, tailored for use in shop stockrooms, and has even come up with a version which can lift television sets out of their cardboard boxes. Another derivative, selling well at home and abroad, is a people lifter used for hoisting maintenance workers up to 3.8 metres from the floor. Trading on its innovative abilities, the company aims to derive 50 per cent of its sales from product designs which are less than five years old. It is constantly working to refine its range, working on the next act, and regards innovation as being about getting better faster than its competitors, with an emphasis on cost-saving solutions. Software specialist B2B Systems, of Market Deeping, and Peterborough-based Luego Sports Cars Ltd were also finalists. Kate Phillips, head of innovation at the East of England Development Agency, presented the award. Anthony Garci, managing director, of Advanced Handling, said: "We were happy to receive the award. It's a real credit to all our people."
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 The team at Advanced Handling Ltd, based in Market Deeping, celebrating their award-winning success Finalists: Advanced Handling Ltd B2B Systems Luego Sports Cars Ltd |
 Contribution
to the Community Award - winners: The Cressetsponsored by: Peterborough City Council THE Cresset, Peterborough has scooped the Peterborough City Council- sponsored Contribution to the Community Award. The Bretton operation turns over more than £1 million a year - with its commercial leisure complex profits helping fund the unique charity side of its business. Some 3,000 people a year take part in arts development classes. Then there are Easter and summer schools, a 36-week dance programme with 32 classes a week, outreach programmes, with 11 primary schools and community activities, such as the memorial garden at Edith Cavell Hospital. Partnerships with local organisations have involved creative graffiti, mural, and other youth projects. On the commercial front it brings the likes of Bob Geldof, Jo Brand, the Moscow Ballet, David Essex, Jools Holland, and Jim Davidson in to entertain the region. But it also provides function suites and meeting rooms, squash courts, shops, a pub and café for local use. The centre was built in 1978 with the aim of advancing the education, social welfare and quality of life for people who came to live in the then new township of Bretton. Commercial profits alone are insufficient to fund all its activities, and partnerships with the YMCA, Shared Churches Ltd, and local businesses are fundamental to its success. Electricity meter makers Ampy Automation Digilog Ltd, based in Frognall, near Deeping St James, Peterborough, and 24-hour music station Lite FM, based in Peterborough, were also short-listed. Cllr Geoff Ridgway, of Peterborough City Council, presented the award. Julian Stanley, managing director of The Cresset, said: "We are thoroughly delighted, particularly because the award is sponsored by Peterborough City Council. We are looking forward to working with them and our other partners to continue what we do in the local community in the coming years." |
 Winners of the Contribution to the Community Award Ð the team from The Cresset Finalists: Cresset Peterborough Ampy Automation Digilog Ltd Lite FM |
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