Businesses celebrated at revamped awards

Success has been championed in a new era for the Hull and East Yorkshire (HEY) Business Awards.

Ideal Heating’s pioneering work to revolutionise the way UK homes are warmed secured a double win at the event. The National Avenue operation was named Large Business of the Year and took the Environmental and Sustainability Award, hours after welcoming Energy Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, with further investment in the city unveiled. Ideal has significantly enhanced its century-old site to manufacture heat pumps and other heating controls, while creating state-of-the-art research and development and training bases on its doorstep. Jason Speedy, chief operating officer, arrived at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel having already celebrated securing £5.2m as part of the Government’s Heat Pump Investment Accelerator with his Groupe Atlantic colleagues. “To win as we have done is just incredible,” he said. “It is testament to everyone. It was a complete pivot for the business. I joined five years ago, in the week it got announced gas boilers were being taken out of the market. “For us it has been all about getting our stakeholders on board, selling them the journey and the commitment to the UK research and development and manufacturing – then living what we are proposing.”

Hull-born actor and impressionist Debra Stephenson hosted the event, with live drummers setting a high tempo.

There was clearly a high bar set to win big in the first edition of the awards under the stewardship of Top 30 Under 30 founder Simon Jones and events specialist Jane Smallwood, with the duo taking the baton on from Hull Daily Mail publisher Reach Plc. A new judging process brought face-to-face visits as well as desktop analysis into the fold.

James Crumpton of Laundry Box UK was named Entrepreneur of the Year for 2024. He is credited with bringing rapid expansion to a long-standing family laundrette service rooted in the city. An M&S graduate who returned from commercial roles in London with the high street giant to drive the evolution, James said: “This means the world, it is a great. “We all work so hard every day, with so many people involved. Turnover has gone through the roof, we have achieved UK firsts and changed the concept of laundrettes – Dot Cotton has gone out of the window! “We’re offering something different, the timing is right, and having been in Hull for such a long time, it is going far better than expected.”

Rubicon Bridge won the Innovation Award as it prepares to launch its regulatory compliance tool for food, drink and health supplements on a huge platform. The Hull-based business, located within C4Di, has made great strides in automation. Kathryn Szymonowicz, managing director, said: “I’m incredibly proud, it is absolutely fantastic and all down to great teamwork. The life of an entrepreneur is not an easy one, so to get this recognition on the journey is fantastic and it means an awful lot. “We’re not funded, we’ve bootstrapped our way up, and it can be a slog. Now we’re about to launch on Amazon globally, so it is perfect timing.” Expertise honed with Galpharm and Seven Seas was channelled into the business, which now employs 45 people in Hull, the Netherlands and the US.

Care Connection Partners took the Growth Award. In just three years the Hull firm has grown to have 300 staff on the books, recruiting for a range of settings. “My whole team deserve every little bit of this, I am so proud of them,” said founder and managing director Deborah Stock. “It is acknowledgement we are doing it right, and every day we strive to do it better and make it better. We want to bring the best to healthcare.”

Start-up Business of the Year was Daniel Alexander Motor Group in Melton. It specialises in luxury used vehicles. One of the three founding directors, Daniel Watts, said: “This is amazing. As a new start-up we’ve worked hard, and it has been very stressful, so to get an award like this when we’ve not yet traded for two years is a fantastic feeling. It is great to get our name out there.”

Youth support and outreach provider Wild Intervention was named Small Business of the Year. Caine Wild leads by example, having defied expectations from his childhood, launching the Hessle business from scratch, during Covid, four years ago. “This is great for us and the young people we work with,” he said. “I was told I would never achieve anything, and I have proved to the young people and the teachers that doubted me that the impossible is possible. “If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything, and this is brilliant.”

One of Hull’s founding digital fathers was celebrated with the Lifetime Achievement accolade. David Keel’s incredible achievements in business building and start-up support were recognised in fine style at the climax of the event. The C4Di chair made his mark in the global graphics sphere, as a leading figure behind what became Sonoco-Trident. It is just over 30 years since a team was pulled together from printing firm Harlands of Hull to explore emerging digital opportunities, with Mr Keel leading the pioneering operation. It went on to work for some of the biggest global brands and was acquired by a billion-dollar backed US giant, going on to eventually employ 750 people. From Hull to Beverley, before settling in Kingswood, internationally it has branched out to the US and Asia, Australia and Brazil. “It was marvellous to be recognised by the city I was born in, grew up in and founded businesses in,” Mr Keel said. “That recognition is magnificent.”

The HEY Business Awards 2024 shortlist:

Start-Up Business of the Year (Less than two years old)

Winner: Daniel Alexander Motor Group

Runner-up: Laundry Box

Small Business of the Year (Less than 50 employees)

Winner: Wild Intervention

Runners-up: All Vision, Giant Bradley’s Sweet Shop

Best Place to Work

Winner: Reckitt

Runners-up: City Health Care Partnership (CIC), Sadofskys

Environmental and Sustainability Award

Winner: Ideal Heating

Runner-up: John Good Group

Charity of the Year

Winner: Tigers Sport and Education Trust

Runners-up: Chasing Rainbows, Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University

Innovation Award

Winner: Rubicon Bridge

Runners-up: Think 360, WJ Group

Entrepreneur of the Year

Winner: James Crumpton

Runners-up: Luke Bottomley, Paul Needler

Team of the Year

Winner: Wescot Credit Services

Runners-up: Premier Modular, Siemens Gamesa

Large Business of the Year

Winner: Ideal Heating

Runners-up: Reckitt, Soanes Poultry

Growth Award

Winner: Care Connection Partners

Runners-up: Accountancy Tuition Academy, Good Travel Management

Rising Star

Winner: Chloe Lawson

Runners-up: Ben Fincham, Jak McLoughlin

Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: David Keel