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Midlands Business Awards 2013
Multiple winners in best Midlands Business Awards yet!
The 2013 Midlands Business Awards have seen a host of businesses and business people from across the region win recognition for their efforts in what has been hailed as the best competition yet.
They came from Northamptonshire to Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire to Warwickshire and many points in between.
Leading the way and taking the ultimate accolade of Midlands Business Person of the Year was Chris Li of Coventry-based bathroom firm Luxury for Less. He began trading on ebay six years ago and now employs more than 60 people at his premises in Grovelands Industrial Estate in Exhall, Coventry.
Chris, who collected his award from Kurt Jacobs, editor of sponsor Midlands Business Insider, echoed the views of many winners by pointing out that the real effort had come from his entire team, saying: “I am thrilled to have won this award not just for myself but for all of our team who have put so much into making the business a success.”
His was one of ten accolades handed out at the ceremony on Friday 1 February at the Hilton Metropole Hotel. The winners ranged from alternative energy firms to ceramics makers, universities to not-for-profit organisations.
The main guest speaker was Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of the Cobra Beer brand in the UK, who urged more people to put themselves forward for awards.
The crossbench peer highlighted the critical role of entrepreneurs in particular and told the guests: “Entrepreneurship is about doing things quickly and well. Business creates the jobs that pay the taxes that fund the public services.”
There was also a Lifetime Contribution to Midlands Business accolade for Sir John Egan, currently Chancellor at Coventry University, and one of the region’s most established industrialists.
The award recognised his significant contribution particularly as chairman of Jaguar Cars, which he built it into one of the foremost automotive brands in the world and oversaw its sale for £1.6 billion to Ford. He was also Chief Executive of the airport operator BAA, the author of a ground-breaking report Rethinking Construction into the construction industry and latterly chairman of the water company Severn Trent, which now has its headquarters in Coventry.
He said he had often had to do the impossible, both at Jaguar during his tenure there and in moving Severn Trent from the foot of the water companies’ league to the top in terms of performance, adding “It was not me who did it but the magnificent people of the Midlands.”
Harj Sandher, of Leamington Spa-based UK Special Events which organises the event, said: “We are delighted that so many different winners have come to the fore from across the Midlands region again.
“These awards have continued to grow in popularity as well as in the calibre of the finalists despite the difficult trading conditions they face. This was the best Midlands Business Awards to date and has raised the bar yet again for next year.”
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