Cornwall Business Award Winners 2011: Who S Who (By Area)

Cornwall Business Award Winners 2011: who’s who (by area)

Helston and the Lizard

Tom Henderson OBE (ShelterBox): Business Leader of the Year and Winner of Winners The inspiration behind the Helston charity that has so far raised £60 million and given shelter, warmth and dignity to some 500,000 people, following 80 disasters in over 50 countries. Contact: 01326 569782

Frugi: Customer Focus, Best International Business and Most Creative Use of the Web Three more awards for the Helston-based producer of organic children’s clothes, which has acted on customer feedback and used social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to encourage customer loyalty, increase overseas profile and improve Spring Collection sales by 94%. Contact: Henrietta Copeland, marketing director 01326 572828

Fourth Element: Best Diversification The Higher Bochym business, which already sells its thermal scuba gear to the FBI, has developed an innovative technique for making stunning 3D animated wreck maps – leading to a prestigious contract with one of the US Government’s largest agencies, the National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Association. Contact: Jim Standing, director 01326 241404

Falmouth & Penryn

Fit’n’Fun Kids: Best Employer and Excellence in Marketing Further success for Cornwall’s two-time Entrepreneur of the Year, Rachel Jones, sees Fit’n’Fun kids gain recognition for becoming the first childcare company in Cornwall to achieve Investors in People Gold status, and the marketing action plan which helped to counteract the effects of the recession and falling UK birth rate, retaining all staff and actually increasing turnover and profitability. Contact: Rachel Jones, managing director 01326 379428

Sproggie: Ignite Cornwall Business Plan Award More recognition for the Penryn-based start-up, and its innovative clip-on spoon for baby food pouches. Contact: Michael Mailling, product designer 01326 377229

St Day (Redruth)

Clear-flow: Best Use of Technology Potentially a bittersweet victory for the family firm whose managing director, Adam Hustler, was murdered just two and a half years ago. The Award acknowledges an innovative, electronic system for creating and processing compulsory “waste transfer notes”; eliminating 30,000 items of paperwork, and saving 1,000 hours of administrative time, per year. Contact: Mark Marriott 01209 821000 Chacewater & Truro

Silicon Vineyard: Best New Business in Cornwall A solar farm developer, whose impressive, 45-megawatt portfolio of photovoltaic projects in development around the South West and Wales is equivalent to the current solar PV total for the UK as a whole. New projects include solar car charging stations and solar gardens, and developing community programmes that will make their technology available to every home and business in Britain within three years. Contact: Abraham Cambridge, technical director 01872 863824

Zola (Richard Lander School): Young Enterprise Award Team of 13 Year-10 GCSE students, selling handmade crafts. They go forward to the regional finals.

Sticker (St Austell)

Dan Parker (Firetext Communications): Young Business Person of the Year The 26-year-old entrepreneur who spotted an opportunity to turn his group SMS text messaging solution for university sports clubs into a successful business, trusted by the Coastguard Search and Rescue service in preference to their former pager service. Contact: Dan Parker 07738 736594

Bodmin and surrounding area

ReZolve: Best Third Sector Business Runs numerous projects helping business, communities and individuals to tackle waste and use or natural resources. A truly sustainable social enterprise, employing 37 people, whose generated income has risen to 92% of its £1.6 million turnover. Contact: Rebecca Rapson 01208 265935

Julie Hewitt (Rosedown Eggs): Entrepreneur of the Year The St Wenn-based mother, with four children under the age of eight, who has nonetheless been actively involved in every aspect of this successful company, achieving a 500% increase in sales and 700% improvement in profits. Contact: Julie Hewitt, partner 01208 813214

East Cornwall

Schoolcomms: Most Dynamic Growth Business A Bude company whose electronic messaging systems enable schools to communicate instantly with teachers, parents and pupils. The system’s reliability was demonstrated in December’s extreme weather, sending well over half a million text messages per day to advise parents of school closures. Contact: Dawn Leighfield, operations and finance director 0844 445 7147

Acaster Blades: Business Innovation of the Year An innovative Launceston company, which has developed a groundbreaking heating and hot water system that dramatically increases efficiency by using energy from recovered boiler flue gases. The resulting saving – as much as 15% compared to comparable boiler systems – has turned a successful local company into a flourishing national enterprise. Contact: Peter Greenwood, 01566 773333