The Chamber News
Annual Business Awards 2024
On Friday 22nd March 2024, the prestigious East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce Annual Business Awards unfolded at De Vere Cranage Estate in Holmes Chapel. With a notable assembly of over 230 attendees, including The High Sheriff of Cheshire, Dr. Dennis Dunn, and his Consort, Mrs. Denise Taylor-Dunn, alongside Chamber Members, Sponsors, and Nominees, the event sparkled as yet another spectacular evening of recognition and celebration.
On arrival, Verity Deaville and Waynne Linaker from Deaville & Co extended a gracious welcome, while Adam Schofield of Cheshire Photography Co. captured memorable moments with a Champagne Reception, generously sponsored by De Vere Cranage Estate, setting the tone for the evening. Jackie Randles, Chief Executive of the East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, personally welcomed The High Sheriff of Cheshire, all the guests and made a special acknowledgement to all the sponsors. Tim McCloud from TMC Strategic Communications and Peter Bowers from Berisfords Ribbons, along with Jackie Randles, served as the evening’s hosts.
After a delightful three-course dinner, the eagerly awaited Awards Ceremony began. Each award recipient was presented with a glass trophy, certificate, and a 4-pack of Beartown Beer supplied by Joe Manning from Beartown Brewery. Prism UK once again, kindly invited all award winners to a special winner’s dinner scheduled for June this year.
The first award of the evening was a Recognition Award, dedicated to Peter Neal, who is retiring from Prism UK, a company that has been a steadfast member of the East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce. In recognition of Peter’s unwavering commitment and dedication to Prism UK and the East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce for the past 13 years, The High Sheriff of Cheshire, Dr. Dennis Dunn, had the honour of presenting this award.
The first business award revealed was for the Start-up Business of the Year, which was presented by Wes Wilkes from IronMarket to the deserving winners, Flagstaffe. Following this, the Progress towards Carbon Neutrality Award was presented by Shaun Morton from Prism UK, the Key Supporters for the evening, to the exceptional team at Precision Card Services, based in Macclesfield, for their dedication to meeting customer demand with an increasingly eco-friendly product.
Marketing Agency, TMC Strategic Communications, headquartered in Congleton, won this year’s award for Export & International Trade Award, presented by Chris Bentley from Harts Accountants. In 2023 TMC were the proud recipients of the King’s Award for Enterprise, being one of only three organisations in Cheshire, and the sole strategic communications agency across the entire UK to earn this accolade.
A new category for the 2024 Awards was the Young Person of the Year award, which received enthusiastic applause as Georgia Whyte from De Vere Cranage Estate received this honour. Kevin Cook from Business Doctors Cheshire was thrilled to present this award.
Jane Bibbey from Eze-Talk, the Premium Sponsors for the evening, were delighted to present the Small Business of the Year Award, the exceptional team at Jenny’s Blinds were ecstatic to receive this recognition. Another strong category for this year was the Employer of the Year, which saw Andrew Pear from Pear Hospitality presenting the award to John Stewart and the team at Senior Aerospace Bird Bellows.
Another new category for the 2024 Business Awards was the Training & Development Award, recognising commitment to development by offering a wide variety of courses to their team and external candidates, Everybody Health & Leisure were the well-deserving winners.
The Professional Services Award made a return this year, presented by Paul Beaumont from Berisfords, the worthy winner of this category was Franklyn. Andrew Chatterton and the team were delighted to receive this award.
Consistently, a tough contender for the awards is the Excellence in Customer Service Award. Heather Gaunt from Thorneycroft Solicitors had the privilege of presenting this award. The judges noted, ‘We were impressed by this team’s passion for their business and its products – all of the staff put the customer at the heart of what they do.’ The team at Beartown Brewery were deeply moved upon receiving this award.
Charity of the Year was the next Award to be presented, another exceptionally tough category for the judges to decide. Ultimately, there could only be one winner, and it was Bridging the Gap – Mind Matters that were awarded the East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce Charity of the Year for 2024/25. Vicky and Heather were overwhelmed when receiving their trophy, which was presented by John Stewart from Senior Aerospace Bird Bellows.
The final category to be awarded was the Business of the Year Award, the most anticipated category which receives an extremely large number in entries, making it the most difficult category to judge. 2023 Business of the Year winner Andrew Chatterton, Managing Director of Franklyn was delighted to present this year’s Business of the Year Award to the well deserving team at IronMarket.
A Special Achievement Award was also awarded to Mr Tim McCloud and Dr Jan McCloud for their achievements over the past 18 months, making a remarkable contribution to the local economy and to East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce.
The evening concluded with an auction and raffle, raising money for 2023/24 Charity of the Year, Visyon. The generosity around the room was phenomenal, raising a staggering £6330 which makes a total of £7570 raised in 2023 to 2024.
Celebrations and dancing went on into the small hours.
