Eat and greet for awards shortlisters

BRUCE Davie (Zen Office), left, Samantha Barber and Graham Souter (Ribble Packaging)

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SHORTLISTED finalists for the 2017 Oldham Business Awards had the chance to meet other finalists and sponsors, at a reception hosted by Innovative Technology.

The Derker firm, which designs and manufactures cash validation equipment, is a major business awards sponsor, alongside Web Applications, NatWest, the Stoller Charitable Fund and Oldham Council.

Innovative Technology hosted the buffet at its research-and-development offices. Dayna Patterson, the firm's marketing manager and an awards steering group member, welcomed guests.

She said: "The purpose of this reception is to let all this year's finalists get to know each other and to meet the sponsors. This is a mini-celebration ahead of the main event at Queen Elizabeth Hall on May 12.

"We have had a record number of entries this year, so being shortlisted is a great achievement. Congratulations to all the finalists."

"Some of this year's nominations and sponsors are regular attendees at the Oldham Business Awards, while others are here for the first time. We are delighted to welcome you all."

Looking ahead to the awards final, she said: "The compère will be comedian Ramesh Ramenathan. He appears on a lot of TV shows. This year's event will have a new addition of an after-party hosted by Revolution Radio 96.2 with DJs Clint Boon and Elliot Eastwick. So it promises to be a great event."

Kashif Ashraf, from the Oldham Business 100 and Asian Business Leaders networking groups, is another steering group volunteer.

He said: "The business awards are all about promoting the borough and its businesses. I've been involved for the past nine years, as have some of our sponsors, such as Web Applications and Nat West. We are really grateful for their support and also to all the new sponsors.

"We have tried to develop the awards with new, different activities in addition to the main ceremony at Queen Elizabeth Hall. This reception is one example. The big ceremony in May is attended by more than 500 people and is a great celebration. However, we also wanted to hold a more-informal gathering before then, to let sponsors and finalists meet each other, and to announce the line-up of finalists.

"Another new development is our workplace visits by judging panels. The panels visit all finalists to get a better understanding of their businesse. All parties have benefited from introductions, networking and advice through the workplace visits."

Craig Dean, chief executive of Web Applications, formally announced all this year's shortlisted finalists as reported in the Chronicle a fortnight ago.

He said: "I got involved in the business awards to promote the many good things happening in the borough and to learn more about how other people do business. The only way to do this is to network.

"I won some important early contracts through Oldham Business Awards networking, which helped to build Web Applications. This also paved the way for other important developments too, such as my Oldham role with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

"Over the past nine years I've got to know lots of business people. Most of them got into business to make a difference - it was not simply about money. Oldham was depressed nine years ago and many people didn't really know about the good things that were happening. Now however Oldham has many things to shout about and celebrate. It is a fantastic area for business and we are doing some amazing things."

Among the reception guests were Jenny Stewart and Eddie Edwards, two directors at shortlisted finalist Ultimate Products.

The company, at Manor Mill in Chadderton, develops, sources and supplies well-known homewear products to retailers across 27 countries.

It is forecasting sales of more than £100million this year and recently floated on the London Stock Exchange.It is on a recruitment push to take on more graduates from a variety of backgrounds. It is also renovating Heron Mill in Hollins for extra warehousing and has two offices in the Far East.

Jenny (33) said: "One of the reasons we entered the Oldham Business Awards is to encourage people locally to consider a career with Ultimate Products. The company is very ambitious and wants to raise awareness of good career opportunities here.

"We have people travelling to Chadderton from further away, including Staffordshire, the Lake District, Merseyside and London. However, there are people locally who don't really know about us. We want to communicate this to aspiring young people here. They don't need to travel into Manchester city centre or go south to find good careers. We are going places."

She added: "I'm an Oldham girl through-and-through. I've lived in Shaw and Chadderton, and attended Our Lady's RC High School. I joined Ultimate Products when it was quite a small company. Now I'm a director and I work just 20 minutes from home."

Eddie added: "This reception is really good. It's great to meet lots of new business people and hear what they do.

"It's also fascinating to hear about their recruitment activities. There's a lot of useful ideas and contacts here."

Looking ahead to the awards final in May, he added: "We plan to bring a group of Ultimate Products staff to Queen Elizabeth Hall and we're really looking forward to it."

Mike Braddock, chief executive of PARFAS, is a finalist in the Business Person of the Year category. The Lees Road business runs security and risk management services, which includes an alarm receiving centre that operates 24-hours-a-day and is equipped to deal with a number of situations.

Mike said: "Tonight's reception is an interesting take on the business awards. It's also good to meet an interesting collection of folk including, for me, a lot of new faces. It feels a bit like the new Oldham business gang."