Awards to honour region's fastest movers

The Yorkshire Post has joined forces with top 100 UK law firm Ward Hadaway to launch the Yorkshire Fastest 50, which will highlight the Yorkshire entrepreneurs who have done the most to grow their business empires during a time of economic uncertainty.

The Yorkshire Fastest 50 will identify the region's success stories by recognising profitable private sector companies that have seen the biggest annual growth rate in their turnover.

A list of the top 50 fastest growing businesses will be published in the Yorkshire Post next month.

Awards will be given to the fastest growing small, medium and large businesses at an awards ceremony in March.

One of these three winners will be crowned Yorkshire's fastest growing business.

The Yorkshire Fastest 50 has been developed with law firm Ward Hadaway, which has seen its Yorkshire operation based in Leeds grow significantly since it opened in the summer of 2008.

Martin Hulls, senior partner at the Leeds office of Ward Hadaway, said: "Yorkshire has so much going for it in terms of ambitious businesses striving for success.

"We wanted to highlight the fantastic work being done by companies right across the region and celebrate the progress which so many firms are making, even in a time of challenging economic circumstances, and we think this is the perfect way to do that.

"We want the Yorkshire Fastest 50 to send out a clear message, not just to the region but to the country as a whole, that Yorkshire is a place where businesses can really thrive.

"We have been made very welcome by the Yorkshire business community since we opened our Leeds office in 2008 and the Yorkshire Fastest 50 is a great opportunity for us to help repay that welcome."

The Yorkshire Fastest 50 is being compiled by independent economic researchers using publicly available data from Companies House.

The data will be verified before the definitive list is published in the Yorkshire Post next month.

Peter Charlton, the Editor of the Yorkshire Post, will introduce the Yorkshire Fastest 50 Awards ceremony in March.

He said: "The Yorkshire Fastest 50 is an excellent opportunity to put the region's business growth on the map and to celebrate all that is best about Yorkshire's companies.

"It is vital for the region's supporters like the Yorkshire Post to trumpet Yorkshire's successes to the wider world and spread the word about our resilience and capabilities.

"This is exactly what we want the Yorkshire Fastest 50 to do so we are grateful to Ward Hadaway for their help and support in launching these new awards and we look forward to the results with great anticipation."

Ward Hadaway, which also has offices in Newcastle and Manchester, has been running a similar awards scheme for companies in the North East of England every year since 1998.

Previous winners of these awards have included Dragons' Den TV star Duncan Bannatyne's leisure empire, Bannatyne Fitness, and one of the country's leading environmental services companies Eaga.

Jamie Martin, managing partner at Ward Hadaway, said: "The North East Fastest 50 has become a fixture in the business calendar in that region and has highlighted a raft of real success stories.

"We hope that the Yorkshire Fastest 50 will play a similar role in helping to champion the real movers and shakers in the Yorkshire business world and bring their achievements to a wider audience."

Mr Hulls added: "It will also be fascinating to see which sectors and industries in the region are seeing the most growth as the awards provide something of a barometer for the state of Yorkshire business."

A leading name in legal world

Ward Hadaway is one of the UK's top 100 law firms with offices in Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester. The firm was formed in 1988 and has achieved strong annual growth since then. It is among the top-ranked law firms in the UK according to independent legal directory Chambers & Partners, with nationally recognised experts across a range of sectors. Ward Hadaway opened its Leeds office in Wellington Street in June 2008 and the operation is now home to more than 30 lawyers, including 14 partners, and provides legal services including bank-ing and finance, corporate and commercial work, property, employment, construction, and the public sector. Clients include major international plcs.