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Excellence in Business Awards 2007: The Winners

BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR: WELCOM SOFTWARE A COMPANY which places its staff at the very heart of the business was honoured for its achievements at the Yorkshire Post Business in Excellence Awards.

IT systems provider Welcom Software won the Best Company to Work For award for its commitment to train, motivate and empower its staff.

The company, based in Harrogate, encourages its staff of 40 to work closely together as a team to present a united front to deliver a consistent message.

Managers and staff work together in an open plan office environment to encourage accessibility and visibility and to help foster close relationships.

Chief executive officer Nigel Welch said: "Investing in staff development, and empowering a workforce to contribute towards the success of a business, is something in which I have always believed passionately. It is an issue I take extremely seriously. While few would disagree that the most important part of a business is its people, many managers still neglect to appropriately train their staff.

"Business owners would do well to remember that this approach, if executed correctly, can reap huge benefits for their businesses."

Rather than adopting a dismissive attitude towards training and development and viewing it as an unnecessary expenditure, Welcom reaps

the benefits of empowering staff to ensure everyone in the business genuinely shares its strategic vision and feels that they can contribute towards its growth and success.

The company is also helping other businesses emulate its success by launching 2Inspire – a specialist division created to provide culture change consultancy to other businesses which might benefit from Welcom's approach.

"A business without empowered staff will only ever function at a fraction of its capacity; imagine how much more you will be able to achieve if all your staff are working in the same direction.

"You can achieve this with very simple initiatives that can be brought in with little effort. For example, at Welcom Software we allow staff to put forward their own solutions to problems or issues.

"Each suggestion can then be investigated, and if viable, implemented. By doing this, staff are invited to play a key role in the way the business is run and their voices are heard at all levels."

Welcom Software also encourages staff to develop strong people skills through training schemes to encourage them to be more outgoing, confident and positive.

Every six weeks the company holds a focus group with representatives from all areas of the business and achievements are celebrated via

Welcom's Positive Messages – a system aimed at keeping everyone aware of the part they play in making the company a success.

"The key for companies wanting to step up their staff development, training and motivational initiatives is to ensure that everyone in the organisation buys into the ideas – from the receptionist to the CEO. If you don't believe it yourself, then you will only ever reap a fraction of the benefits."

Welcom Software specialises in developing web technology for customers including fashion chain French Connection.

Earlier this year the company made a key acquisition which will allow it to offer a full range of e-commerce services.

The company acquired Maidenhead-based E-InBusiness, which operates sales sites in the retail and mail-order sector. Turnover has increased by around 50 per cent following the purchase of E-InBusiness.

Established 27 years ago, Welcom Software's current turnover is 4m, while E-InBusiness has a turnover of 2.1m.

Welcom's client list includes Cleveland Police and United Co-operatives.

The Best Company to Work For award was sponsored by Bradford University School of Management.

See page 2 for next winnerCompanies who take that extra step to become world class

ALL four finalists in the Best Company to Work for category of the Yorkshire Post's Excellence in Business Awards set a gold standard for best practice in their sectors, according to Dr David Spicer of Bradford University School of Management.

Dr Spicer chaired the judging panel of the Best Company to Work For Award, and visited the four shortlisted companies: Bayford, Elmwood Design, Shulmans solicitors and Welcom Software.

He said: "The judges all agreed that you could take any one of the finalists and hold them up as examples of world class employers.

"Every company who entered this year's awards demonstrated good practice, but the four finalists went way beyond that. They all found creative and innovative ways of approaching employee relations that are appropriate to their sectors.

"Also, we found that what each company was saying about their commitment to being a good employer was consistent: from their initial entry, through employee questionnaires and then site visits.

"There was no window dressing but a culture of excellent people management steeped in the bricks and mortar of each of the four companies."

Dr Spicer, who is associate dean with responsibility for the School's MBA programme and a specialist in human resources and the management of change, believes you can tell a great employer from the minute you walk through the door.

"First impressions do count and the way you are greeted gives you an idea of the culture of the business.

"At Shulmans, their receptionist can give her full attention to visitors because the switchboard function is elsewhere. It makes you feel special and aware that people matter.

"Common to all four companies was the recognition that people are a key driver of the business and there was a clear link between excellent people management and great client service.

"There was an incredible level of engagement with employees who feel valued and have a

clear understanding of the business and the role they play within it."

Being a great company to work for need not be expensive, according to Dr Spicer. In fact, some of the most effective ideas they came across were the simplest. He said: "Providing a tea room or soft space where employees can chat during their breaks is often more significant in creating a positive environment than providing expensive benefits such as a company gym.

Elmwood has an in-house caterer who makes home-made scones. The response that generates within the company means that she is worth her weight in gold.

"Welcom recognises that some technical people may be uncomfortable talking face-to-face about any problems so they have web-based 'Be happy, don't worry' forms where they can voice any concerns.

"Bayford's impressed with the strength of the company's culture and the commitment this engendered in its employees, demonstrated by the company having more volunteers than it needed willing to work all hours to get the business back up and running following the floods earlier this year."

Dr Spicer says that all four companies have open door policies and senior managers who walk around the business and know employees by name: "In fact, in one company the MD sits in among his employees in an open plan office so it is hard to know who is the boss.

"Our finalists are successful companies in very different sectors, but they all demonstrate that being a great employer makes good business sense. Their employees understand that the business wants to get the best out of them and vice versa.

"The ethos is very much work hard, play hard and that valuing people is good for them and therefore good for business."

Make your firm a great place to work

Ensure your office reflects your ethos: the culture of a company is apparent to visitors as soon as they walk through the

door.

Demonstrate and reinforce your business values constantly, make them part of the fabric of the workplace.

Limit titles and hierarchical structures, they create divisions.

Find creative and innovative ways to interpret HR regulations and know what will work best for your business and your sector.

Have clear mechanisms for career progression.

Provide areas where all employees can socialise and interact.

Recognise and reward achievements both inside and outside work.

Senior management should not be behind closed doors: they need to be visible and know the names of individual employees.

Employees need to have a clear understanding of the business, its goals, its values and how they contribute to them.

Work at demonstrating the company is a good place to work – Investors in People, awards and benchmarking all help show that your practice is world class.

See next page for more winnersINDIVIDUAL AWARD FOR YORKSHIRE EXCELLENCE: SEAN MAHON

SEAN Mahon, the winner of the Yorkshire Post Award for Individual Excellence, is somebody who was into corporate social responsibility before the phrase was even invented.

He has just retired as the chief executive of Cattles, one of Yorkshire's biggest companies which employs more than 5,000 people, has turnover of more than 700m and is valued at around 1.5bn.

During his seven years running the Birstall-based finance business, he helped to oversee its move away from its doorstep lending roots to a high-technology business lending to both individuals and businesses and he has also focused on its commitment to the wider community by getting involved in Business in the Community and Leeds Cares.

He was born and still lives in Sheffield where he joined Coopers & Lybrand as a trainee accountant in 1968, eventually joining the UK board of PricewaterhouseCoopers and becoming chairman and senior partner of its northern region.

But after more than three decades in the accountancy profession, he made the relatively unusual move to become the head of a stock market quoted company.

"I was never a very good accountant!" says Mahon with customary modesty. "I have always worked on this principle in my life – you move on before you are found out! But seriously, I only ever had three ambitions. One was to be an RAF pilot and I got to Germany and discovered I didn't like flying.

"The second was to become a chartered accountant and I got to Coopers & Lybrand. Barrie Cottingham recruited me and he was my boss for 40 years because he was the chairman of Cattles as well.

"And the third ambition was always to be the chief executive of a listed company based in Yorkshire. The reason I wanted to do that was because I always felt there was something we could advise but when we left that boardroom it was the management who had to implement it and I always wanted to know how that would feel."

Of Cattles' work with charities and in the community, Mr Mahon says that there are huge benefits within the business from such efforts.

"There is a magnificent team at Cattles and they ran the business and that allowed me as chief exec to think of things. This is why I think it is a no-brainer. When we first started doing staff surveys, we were lucky if a third of our staff responded and we would be lucky if 30 per cent had much good to say about us. Now I can tell you that last year 85 per cent of our employees returned their surveys and the important thing to us is that over 85 per cent were proud to work for Cattles and a large part of that is the team working and community working that we have done."

Mr Mahon is the Prince of Wales's Business Ambassador for Yorkshire and Humber and has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Sheffield Hallam University for his contribution to Yorkshire business and his work in deprived communities.

Now 61, he wants to spend more time with his wife Pauline – they have a home in Ireland – and their three children and four grandchildren – three of whom have been born in the last 12 months.

Mr Mahon plans to play more golf and fish for salmon over in Ireland, his ancestral home.

His forebears left Ireland in around 1840 at the time of the great famine, and he says he is very proud to have been a President of the Irish Society of Sheffield and District.

After leaving school at 18, he captained both the Sheffield and Yorkshire Colts rugby union sides and was an England triallist.

He is now vice-president of the Young People's Clubs of South Yorkshire & Hallamshire, which provides sporting activities for young people in disadvantaged areas of Sheffield and has been its honorary treasurer for more than 20 years.

He said after being presented with the Excellence in Business Award on Thursday: "I realised how old I was! You go to events and hear people talking about others, but then you reach a point where you hear these things about yourself! It really hits you."

Mr Mahon will continue to play a role in the Yorkshire business community and has joined the global board of DLA Piper as a non-executive director, one of the world's biggest law firms, which was founded in Yorkshire almost two centuries ago.

See next page for more winnersPROJECT OF THE YEAR: ZULFI KARIM

Inside story of the Bollywood extravaganza

Hundreds of working hours were spent bringing the International Indian Film Awards to Yorkshire in 2007, but one man has been credited with having the biggest influence on the region hosting the biggest event in the Bollywood film industry. Zulfi Karim was the winner of the Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards's Project Award for his efforts.

Here we profile Zulfi's achievement.

June 2005 – Zulfi attends IIFA Awards in Amsterdam.

August 2005 – Invited, along with other Yorkshire Tourist Board members, to join Yorkshire Forward at Royal Ascot in York. When asked by Yorkshire Forward chief executive Tom Riordan and chairman Terry Hodgkinson how the region could 'top' Ascot, Zulfi comes up with the idea of Yorkshire hosting the 2006 IIFA awards.

August 2005 – Zulfi meets with Riordan following the race meeting to progress this idea and makes contact with IIFA, who are on an inspection trip in Dubai. Convinces them to stop over in Yorkshire on their way back.

September 2005 – Secures agreement from Yorkshire Forward to bid for 2006 and invites IIFA delegation across on a whirlwind tour of the region looking at potential venues and hotels. Zulfi acts as tour guide on the helicopter trip, making the introductions with key people.

September 2005 – 'Team Yorkshire' went to Amsterdam team to discuss their experience of hosting IIFA and what lessons could be learned.

October 2005 – Team Yorkshire's bid for 2006 withdrawn due to lack of time but commitment agreed in principle with Yorkshire Forward for a bid in 2007. Zulfi plays key role in developing the bid document and business plan.

March 2006 – Funding secured and bid submitted to IIFA, fronted by Zulfi who flies out to Bollywood capital Mumbai to present Yorkshire's case.

June 2006 – Zulfi attends IIFA Awards in Dubai with high profile Yorkshire delegation where Yorkshire's win is announced to the world. The attention of the world's media begins to focus on Yorkshire.

Autumn 2006 – Employed by IIFA's management team Wizcraft to be UK director for the Yorkshire event. Zulfi, also director of Bradford events management company Mec UK, resigns from Yorkshire Tourist Board due to conflict of interest (both having a contract with IIFA/Wizcraft).

June 2007 – IIFA Awards Weekend. Yorkshire on the world stage. Five hundred million viewing audience. Almost $100m media coverage generated around the world.

See next page for more winnersYOUNG BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: SPACE2WORK

A DYNAMIC young company which made a major acquisition in its first year of trading is continuing to build on its early

success. Huddersfield-based Space2Work was founded in 2005 by Stephanie France to provide a complete office design and refurbishment service.

The firm provides tailored schemes for organisations across the UK and specialises in providing the corporate service for SMEs by taking clients from concept through to completion of a refurbishment project.

Ms France formed the idea for her company while she was doing her MBA at Bradford University School of Management after she identified a gap in the market for affordable, tailored office design and refurbishment for companies with between 25 and 250 employees.

Her inspiration paid off and the company walked away with the Young Business of the Year Award.

Within a year of trading, the company grew from a one woman operation to a company with a turnover of around 500,000 and a staff of six.

The company operates nationally and recent projects have included refurbishing the London offices of international medical researchers Branding Science and work to improve offices at Switalski's Solicitors at its Bradford and Wakefield offices.

Prior to setting up her firm, Ms France worked on projects for a string of high profile customers including the NHS, Viking Direct and Comet.

At the company, dedicated specialists work closely with customers to understand their individual business needs to create a working environment that contributes to the overall business proposition.

Space2Work acquired Wakefield-based FP Construction for a five figure sum in October 2006. The acquisition allowed the company to realise a five fold increase in the size of its business.

Company director Stephanie France said: "We have grown consistently over two years and now employ 26 people and we are contributing to the success of the Yorkshire economy. We are a fast growing company but, importantly, we are growing in a sustainable way. By working with small companies we will hopefully grow as they grow and because of the service we provide, they will come back to us again and again." It is certainly an area with a lot of potential for growth. There are more than 10 million office workers in the UK who work in more than 200 million square metres of office space representing a capital investment of more than 120bn.

The company also expects to be on the acquisition trail again within the next 12-18 months to continue with its growth plans.

Space2Work is aiming to reach a turnover target of 10m within the next five years. "We want to continue to grow in a sustainable and profitable way and we aim to make another acquisition in the future.

"By working with companies to refurbish their offices, we are hopefully adding value to their business model while at the same time adding value to our own. It is crucial for an SME to get it right as often it is a significant investment for them."

She added: "The office environment plays an essential role in a creative and productive workforce as well as creating a vital first impression on visitors."

The Young Business of the Year Award was sponsored by Yorkshire Forward.

See next page for more winnersINNOVATION OF THE YEAR: LOADHOG FROM GRIPPLE GROUP

GRIPPLE shows that Yorkshire still leads the world in manufacturing innovation. Sheffield-based Gripple is probably best known as the manufacturer of the Gripple wire joining and tensioning device. Since the wire was launched in 1988, more than 500 products and variants have been sold in 75 countries.

Innovation has remained at the heart of the company's operation, which spans Europe and North America. Gripple is now the worldwide market leader in wire joining devices for fencing and viticulture applications. It is widely regarded as the most cost-effective method of suspending electrical and mechanical services.

Gripple has also been at the forefront of environmentally friendly business practices. Its fully recyclable Loadhog lid is made from moulded polypropylene and is designed to secure a level load to any standard wooden or plastic pallet.

It's easy to apply and remove the lid, which can be used in a wide variety of applications.

The system can replace shrink wrapping and banding. Using the Loadhog lid can bring cost savings by reducing labour requirements and eliminating single-use packaging.

The Smartstak load securing system comprising the Smartpad layer pad and the Smartframe top frame has been developed for the glass bottling and canning and pet markets and radically reduces the incidence of breakages in transit.

The company's Old West Gun Works is a landmark in Sheffield, and is home to Gripple's manufacturing, research and development, marketing, sales, IT and finance teams.

The company's philosophy is underlined by its mission statement: "Like Gripple the product and Gripple the building, Gripple the company is unique. The Gripple team pride themselves on working together. There is a will to rise to challenges together and to win together. The whole team is committed to the product, the company and the way forward. As shareholders in the company, the Gripple team drive the company's performance."

When Sheffield Hallam University's Centre for Sport and Exercise Science was looking for an unobtrusive method of suspending a number of its exhibits at a recent international exhibition in Beijing, it called on Gripple for help.

Gripple's hanger system is normally used for the suspension and bracing of mechanical and electrical services. The centre used the system to display the best in UK sports and science technology.

Gripple donated a number of hangers, which were used to suspend a range of sporting equipment at the Beijing Sports Science Exhibition. The project was delivered on behalf of the British Embassy to strengthen the links between the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing and the London Olympics of 2012.

The exhibition attracted more than 70,000 visitors from across China, with more than 10 million people watching the televised opening ceremony and another 650,000 viewing an on-line virtual exhibition.

Gripple has also anchored itself in the Tunisian grape growing market.

The manufacturer, which is already a leading supplier of tension wire in French vineyards, has distributed kits for vineyard trellising in the North African country.

Gripple speeded up the development of Tunisia's vineyard plantations by providing kits for 1,000 hectares on a site near Tunis which is partly-owned by French company Groupe Castel.

See next page for more winnersEXPORTER OF THE YEAR: ALLAM MARINE

ASSEM Allam has escaped torture and imprisonment to establish a company that saves thousands of lives in disaster zones.

Within the next decade, Allam Marine is set to become the world's largest supplier of electricity generators, which means more starving people will get food, heat and light.

Hull-based Allam Marine has supplied generators to the Royal Palace in Dubai and villages in Sri Lanka that were devastated by the tsunami of December 2004.

The generators can provide power for a whole village, which means drugs and medicines can be stored in remote places.

They can also be used in an emergency when the mains electricity has been knocked out.

Allam Marine hopes to break the 500m turnover barrier in six to eight years.

Perhaps surprisingly, it's still a family-run business. Mr Allam fled from Egypt to build a life in the UK because he was being persecuted for speaking out against President Gamal Abdel Nasser's regime in the 1960s.

Nasser is still an iconic figure to many in the Arab world. But to critics like Mr Allam, Nasser's government was a throwback to a repressive era.

"Nasser was a dictator," Mr Allam, who is the company's managing director, recalled recently. "He was very hard, not as hard as Saddam Hussein, but hard enough. He took Egypt backwards 30 to 50 years. I was a student and very outspoken at the time."

Fearing for his safety, he moved to Britain in 1968. At the time of leaving Egypt, he was working as an auditor and studying for his masters degree.

On arriving in Britain, he found work as an accountant and, in 1977, he was seconded to generator builder Tempest Diesels. Realising the potential of the business, he bought it in 1981, creating the holding company, Allam Marine.

The "Marine" part of the title stems from the early days, when the company specialised in supplying generators to the shipping industry. To succeed, Mr Allam knew he had to get much bigger and diversify.

"My customers were once my competitors," Mr Allam recalls. "If you don't have a constant flow of orders, you go under. Twenty-five years ago, there were 250 manufacturers in our sector; now it's gone down to about 10 or 12.

"We realised that our vision for the future was right. You go for volume or nothing. We have become the supermarket for the generator industry. In the Third World, the generators act as the main source of power or as a major standby power. Our equipment saves lives."

The company has received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for its success in selling generator sets, which can be sent out fully assembled or as flatpacks for local workforce to put together.

Generators are sometimes used as bargaining tools in negotiations between oil companies and native tribes. The oil company will agree to supply generators to outlying villages, in return for being allowed to explore the land for oil.

Succession planning seems straightforward. Mr Allam's son, Ehab, is already installed as operations director.

Allam has supplied a Heineken factory in Holland with generator sets, a fitting order for a firm which claims to reach the parts others cannot reach.

Success Stories

The company supplied marine generators and propulsion systems for Nile river cruisers and floating hotels.

A generator was sent to the Big Brother house in Nigeria.

Two large generators were supplied to the Mersey Tunnel.

Generators have also been sent to high-profile clients in East Yorkshire – such as The Deep, Hull Prison and Humberside Police's HQ. Other clients in the UK include the BBC and Virgin Radio.

Generators were recently supplied to the Royal Palace, in Dubai, and Tottenham Hotspur football club.

Several generator sets were sent to the Dominican Republic after the recent hurricane.

Allam also supplied generators to the presidents of Gambia and Egypt

See next page for more winnersBEST UNIVERSITY SPIN-OUT: XCELERON OF YORK

A PROCESS that helps historians find the age of bones and buildings is also making human drug trials safer.

Fears were raised about the future of clinical tests after six healthy volunteers became seriously ill during a drug trial in London last year.

York-based Xceleron wants to make these tragedies a thing of the past, by ensuring that volunteers only receive tiny, harmless drug samples.

The company could also help cut the number of experiments conducted on animals, because it will enable scientists to find out quickly if humans can tolerate drugs.

The York University spin-out has been growing rapidly since its formation in 2003.

Xceleron's work revolves around an analytical technique called accelerator mass spectometry or AMS.

The AMS instrument was developed for radiocarbon dating, a process used by archaeologists to work out the age of relics.

Xceleron has taken the same technology and used it to study how potentially lifesaving drugs are eliminated from the body. The company uses microdosing, in which volunteers are given minuscule amounts of drug.

Blood samples are then analysed, using a detection system that is so sensitive it can count individual atoms.

The company's procedures will tell scientists whether they have a useful drug or a dud.

Xceleron's work to win customers in Europe, the US and Japan earned it the international achievement award at the 2006 Yorkshire Bioscience Awards.

Earlier this year, Xceleron announced a milestone in the development of its US business with the signing of a lease on a multi-million dollar facility in Germantown, Maryland.

The facility is due to open next month, and will house a new accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS).

The Maryland operation will employ at least 20 people in scientific, commercial and administrative roles.

The move follows the establishment of Xceleron's North American business in 2005 when the company began to experience significant demand for its services from what is estimated to be a $1bn market worldwide.

Last month, Xceleron announced a collaboration with Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, on a three-compound human microdose study.

The three drug candidates are all compounds that have emerged from gynaecological research.

Professor Colin Garner, the chief executive of Xceleron, said the company has 100 clients including 15 of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies.

He said recently: "Human microdosing studies make so much sense for studying drugs in the body because the best model for humans is humans.

"The major reason we are seeing an increase in our business is that biotechs and pharmaceutical companies keep trying to increase the efficiency of the drug discovery process."

According to Prof Garner, a study carried out by an independent group across the pharmaceutical industry showed that 40 per cent plan to adopt microdosing by 2008 and 90 per cent by 2010.

He says one of the reasons for this is that one in three drugs fail when taken from animals into humans.

Microdosing experiments could also help pharmaceutical companies choose which drug candidates are taken into Phase I experiments.

"For smaller biotechs the key step is getting the drugs into humans so that investors release funds for further development," he said.

The company has a few competitors in Japan and the US, but none in the EU due to the high cost of equipment.

Universities supply a flow of business innovation

Dr JULIAN White believes Yorkshire is at the forefront of innovation.

And a big part of that, he argues, is the number of businesses coming out of the region's universities.

But he said it would be wrong for universities to rest on their laurels as innovations in science, technology and other sectors developed in Yorkshire make their mark on the way we live.

Dr White said: "The biggest mistake would be to create spin-out companies and not then put the support into it. It's no good letting them start companies and for them to then drift off."

Dr White said incubation facilities, financial support and business advice were all essential to allow university spin-outs to prosper.

Dr White is chief executive of the White Rose University Consortium, which was established in 1997 to optimise the combines resources of Leeds, Sheffield and York universities.

Although not an independent funding source, White Rose, sponsor of the Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards's University Spin-out category, has developed collaborative partnerships to encourage creativity and innovation which has helped win research projects valued at 65m.

White Rose aims to secure large-scale projects for its stakeholders, universities and the region.

It has collaborated with Yorkshire Forward to develop winning regional projects such as the contract to run and build the Government's flagship National Science Learning Centre in York.

White Rose runs its Technology Seedcorn Fund, to plug the gap for fledgling companies looking for early stage venture capital investment.

Dr White said White Rose's Health Innovation Partnership, which aims to stimulate new medical and healthcare innovations and to help bring them to market, had been an exciting development.

And he also praised the fact White Rose had been awarded 4.5m to establish a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning of Enterprise, which will enable students to develop enterprise skills.

He said White Rose was also excited about a delegation to the region next month by the Chinese Association for Medical Devices Institute, which aims to build partnerships with the Chinese health sector.

"It's completely wrong to think of China as a centre which just concentrates on manufacturing," said Dr White.

See next page for more winnersCOMPANIES WITH TURNOVER OF UNDER 10m: ELMWOOD

ELMWOOD is looking to conquer the world from Guiseley. The design and branding agency which already numbers the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, and the Football Association as its clients, has offices in Scotland and Australia, but is happy for its headquarters to remain in the Yorkshire town.

The company, which won the Companies Under 10m Turnover category, was also shortlisted in the Best Companies to Work For section for the second year in a row.

Chairman Jonathan Sands is keen to stress the team ethic that drives the company, which has 76 staff.

"Every single person in the business is a shareholder," he says proudly.

He is also delighted it always scores highly in the best companies to work for tables.

"People either love it and stay or they don't find the culture right, but our problem is that people stay too long."

The firm doesn't work on an annual retainer basis with its clients and has not diversified into other areas such as advertising and public relations.

"There are too many jacks of all trades and that is where business goes to London. I want to create the best branding business.

"The biggest retailer (Wal-Mart] in the world is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, and I believe that the best design business in the world can be based in Guiseley," proclaims Sands.

The meeting room is called Base Camp at Elmwood's offices – it is where its "brand sherpas" meet their clients.

The walls bear quotes from Elmwood's sherpas: "We create brands with authentic attitudes," says one, "We create brands not blands," says another.

There is a wooden summerhouse in the garden called The Plotting Shed, where employees are encouraged to have strategy meetings.

"We are all extremely competitive and hate to lose. If I had a catchphrase, then it would be 'It's not quite right'."

Elmwood certainly has had some high-profile clients. Its work with the Football Association saw it redraw the Three Lions on the England shirt and re-design the FA Cup logo.

Earlier this year it designed and launched its own brand of tea – Make Mine a Builder's, a range of teabags sold by Asda and Tesco. Sands says that after years of creating brands for other firms it decided to come up with its own.

"We came up with the name when someone in our office asked if anyone wanted a brew and a colleague replied: 'Yes, but make mine a builder's'.

"I had never heard the expression before and they told me that 'builder's tea' meant a bog standard, normal cup of tea. I thought that it would make a brilliant brand."

Elmwood was founded 30 years ago by the Charles Walls Group advertising agency, which was based at Elmwood House in Calverley, Leeds.

Sands, who did a business course at college and then went into the advertising industry, joined five years later, aged 21, as a junior salesman. Within two years he was director of sales, then deputy managing director at the age of 24.

Sands, now aged 46, has been working with Asda for 20 years since its transformation under Archie Norman and Alan Leighton.

He is a pragmatist who focuses his firm's work on boosting the client's bottom line.

Elmwood's work has included rebranding septic tank emptying business Environtech as "serious s***" complete with a brown logo and slogans painted on the side of its tankers including: "We love s***" and "We deal with s***". Turnover doubled to 2m within a year without the company investing in any other marketing support.

Elmwood advised farming couple Debbie and Andrew Keeble to rename their Manor Born sausages. Debbie & Andrew's sausages were born and sales went from 30,000 in 2001 to more than 1m in 2003.

Elmwood's office in Australia has flourished and it now numbers sports giant Nike among its clients.

Elmwood turns over about 10m a year and makes profits of 1m with four offices – in Guiseley, London, Melbourne and Edinburgh.

See next page for more winnersCOMPANIES WITH TURNOVER OF BETWEEN 10m AND 50m: PRESSURE TECHNOLOGIES

IT may have its roots based in the past, but Pressure Technologies is looking firmly to the future.

Having listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in June, the company is aiming for sustained growth.

The flotation raised 6m, giving the company a market capitalisation of 17m, with the aim of the listing being to drive forward acquisitions.

Pressure Technologies' operating company is Chesterfield Special Cylinders, of Sheffield, which can trace its history back to 1897.

The company, which won the 10m to 50m turnover category sponsored by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, is one of only six engineers worldwide able to manufacture large high-pressure cylinders, which are up to 40 feet long, have massive storage capacities and are manufactured from high-strength steel tube.

They are used mainly in the offshore oil and gas industry, and Pressure Technologies claims it has months of production booked for oil industry operations in Europe, the Far East and West Africa.

Pressure has seen its overall order book almost treble since 2004 and its exports have more than doubled in the same period.

Its huge cylinders are also used in naval ships and submarines, in gas transportation trailers and for ground storage.

It manufactures steel cylinders which help offshore oil and gas platforms to remain buoyant and other cylinders are used for the operation of ejector seats.

Results for the six months to March 31, revealed Chesterfield's turnover was 7.28m and pre-tax profits were 800,000.

The ability to offer reduced delivery times on major oil rig construction projects, where accurate scheduling is essential, has been seen by the company as a major step forward in securing orders.

Chesterfield relocated from Derbyshire to Sheffield in 2005 following a successful management buyout the previous year of the Special Products Division of the Chesterfield Cylinders business, as it was then known, by chief executive John Hayward and four colleagues from its German parent.

Mr Hayward said the move saved the business from going out of existence.

Mr Hayward said he had been delighted with the relocation to Yorkshire, which is emphasised by the "Made in Yorkshire" emblem hanging from the exterior of its premises.

"When you look at the engineering businesses that are in Sheffield such as Sheffield Forgemasters, Durham Duplex and so on you realise there are some really good companies here," said Mr Hayward, who is predicting that turnover will increase from 14m to 18m over the next 12 months.

In a recent trading update, Pressure said it expected pre-tax profits and exceptional items for the financial year to be ahead of expectations, while its prospects for 2008 remained "strong".

"We're a major supplier in the oil and gas sector to deep oil rigs and that's driving the business."

Mr Hayward, who sits on both the Pressure Technologies and Chesterfield boards, said the company was keen to pursue acquisition opportunities in the UK.

He said Pressure would also not rule out overseas opportunities, despite a major acquisition opportunity falling through earlier this year.

He said Pressure was proud to have won its Excellence Awards.

"It was a very high calibre sector and to be judged top amongst our peers is a big thing for the business."

Pressure has a colourful history. The company can trace its history back to 1897 in Derbyshire when a company was established to manufacture weldless steel tubes for Royal Navy warships.

In 1906, the Universal Weldless Steel Tube Company was acquired by The Chesterfield Tube Company in 1906. The company developed cylinders during the 1930s for powering motor cars by gas. In the 1970s, curved "banana" cylinders were produced to fit inside hulls of the Trident Class of nuclear-powered submarines.

See next page for more winnersCOMPANIES WITH TURNOVER OF MORE THAN 50m: MKM BUILDING SUPPLIES

MKM Building Supplies, which won the category for Companies with Turnover of more than 50m, was formed as a start up business in 1995 by David Kilburn and Peter Murray, who both had experience of trading with one of the national builders' merchant chains.

Their vision for the Hull-based firm was to create a business where knowledgeable, local people, served the local industry.

Recognising the fact that customers always have the option to shop where they want, MKM aims to differentiate itself by delivering "unprecedented levels of service".

MKM's directors believe that "it is people that make the difference" and the key message to staff is "give customers what they want".

Mr Kilburn, the chief executive of MKM, is keen to stress that.

"The secret of the success at MKM is having 550 people who are committed to delivering high quality service. The market in the construction industry is pretty vast. We believe that our product offering is significantly better than our competitors, the recruitment of the best quality people outweighs the question of whether or not prices are differential and so we tend to concentrate purely and simply on delivering good quality service from people with the right kind of attitude and commitment and, touch wood, so far the formula has been successful," said Mr Kilburn.

"We have invested in people over the last 12 years and it has paid significant dividends and the award really is a true testimony to the business as a whole."

To understand what customers want, MKM went to the effort of videoing various customer types, from the contract developer, to the jobbing builder and even the retail consumer, in an effort to understand their different requirements and expectations of their preferred builder's merchant.

The business quickly grew from its humble birthplace on Clough Road and in 1997 MKM moved to a purpose-built site on Stoneferry Road. Not content with a one branch operation, and with the realisation that the model could by repeated elsewhere, the directors set about developing a strategy to grow the business.

Last year, the firm, one of the largest privately-owned companies in East Yorkshire with a turnover of 82m, signalled ambitions to double in size following a 21m investment by venture capital firm 3i.

The deal saw MKM, then the fifth largest independent builders' merchant in Britain, launch plans to increase its number of depots from 19 to 40 over the next three years and expand from its northern base.

In the 18 months since the deal, MKM has increased its network to 26 depots.

Mr Kilburn said: "The plans are to continue expanding the business, we currently operate from 29 branches spreading from Scotland to Chelmsford down in Essex, our plans are to expand the business on a national basis and by 2010 and have something between 60 and 70 branches and we will continue to expand."

The deal last year saw co-founder Mr Kilburn and fellow director Bill Acton retain an interest in the business investing alongside 3i, which took a substantial minority stake.

The funding, together with new bank facilities provided by Lloyds TSB Acquisition Finance, provided an exit for Malcolm Walker and Peter Murray, who founded the business with Mr Kilburn in 1995.

"We are looking to at least double the size of the business in the next two-to-three years. The people that run our depots are driven. Each of the branches is a separate limited business and the guys that run them have 25 per cent of that business so they get a dividend each year as well as a salary.

"We want experienced people with entrepreneurial flair but who probably don't have the funds to set up on their own. We have 50 people on our books who want to run MKM outlets when larger groups are struggling to find people to run their own outlets.

"Our people will go that extra mile if they have got an interest in the business."

Subsidiary MKM Leisure, run by Mr Kilburn's wife Linda Clarke, supplies thousands of items which go into the manufacture and refurbishment of caravan holiday homes and re-locatable buildings. MKM sponsors the south stand of KC Stadium, home of Hull City and Hull RLFC and is a bond holder of Hull City Image and co-sponsor of the Yorkshire International Business Convention.

Mr Kilburn added: "There is a lot of creating and pioneering entrepreneurship that has come out of East Yorkshire and I don't think it is recognised as much as it should be and hopefully just winning this award has helped to elevate the situation of some of the businesses that are successful."

Watch the video and see photographs from the 2007 event>>

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