Firms get ready for glittering ceremony

2015 WINNER: Valerie Simpson (FAB Group) and Emma Alexander, managing director of Business Woman of the Year category sponsor Unity Partnership, with Jon Culshaw

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EXCITEMENT is mounting as the final preparations get under way for the 2016 Oldham Business Awards on Friday night.

This year’s awards are bigger than ever with over 500 guests due at the Queen Elizabeth Hall for the gala dinner.

Over the next few days, the venue is being fitted with big screens, lights and pyrotechnics to make the celebrations go off with a bang.

The popular actor and comedian John Thomson is hosting the night. The star is probably best known for “The Fast Show” and “Cold Feet”.

The ceremony will be opened by Martyn Torr, who helped found the awards. A former business editor of the Oldham Evening Chronicle, he now works for the New Image events company.

New Image has filmed videos of all the finalists over the past few weeks, which will be screened at Friday night’s ceremony.

The finalists were first unveiled in March and invited to a reception at the offices of Derker-based Innovative Technology, where they had the opportunity to meet other finalists, sponsors and judges.

Importance

Aidan Towey, managing director of Innovative Technology, which is an awards sponsor, congratulated them on being shortlisted and emphasised the importance of celebrating the borough’s many excellent businesses.

Now as the ceremony approaches, the finalists will be crossing their fingers and hoping that they will be the ultimate winner of their category.

There are 11 award categories this year, ranging from Business and Business Person of the Year, to Young Entrepreneur and Community Engagement. There is also a Special Recognition Award which will be announced on the night.

Awards steering group chairman Steve Kilroy, said: “We’ve been busy making our final plans for Friday night and we are all looking forward to the celebration at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

“It promises to be a great night, highlighting all that’s best about Oldham’s business community.

“Over the past eight years, the awards have brought together thousands of business people and highlighted many success stories.

“The events have also raised over £30,000 for charities, which is an important element of what we do. Looking ahead, we want to make the awards even bigger and better.”



A SPECIAL eight-page supplement with full reports and photos from the 2016 Oldham Business Awards night will appear on Wednesday, May 18, in the Chronicle.

AWARDS SHORTLIST

Business of the year: (above £10 million turnover): Zen Office, MID Communications and Ribble Packaging

Business of the Year (£5 million-£10 million): Ryder & Dutton, George Hill Timber and Joseph Parr (Alco)

Business of the Year (£1 million to £5 million): Tunnel Engineering Services (UK) Ltd, Gemini UPVC and Fineline interiors

Business of the year (under £1 milion): EC Creative, Breakey & Nuttall and Independent Workwear Solutions

Business Person of the Year: Geoff Clarke, Tunnel Engineering Services (UK) Ltd; Richard Eastwood of Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisors; and Razak Ahmed PSP Oldham

Employer of the Year: Gemini UPVC, Fineline and FAB Group

Start-up Business: Jack’s Smokehouse, Beyond Beauty and Morgan Pearson

Young Business of the Year: DBX Acoustics, Matt Hoyle Personal Training and Cycle Tech

Young Entrepreneur: Daniel Arundell, Rebecca Jackson and Arif Mohid of Aim High Enterprise

Supporting Young People: Unity Partnership, Capita Translating & Interpreting, and Aspect Fire Solutions

Community Engagement: Fayaz Aslam , Cafe Lahore; Ansar Ali, DSGN UK and Mick Harwood, Suits, Scoots & Boots