Private firms in public eye with trio of awards

York-based Portakabin (Shepherd Building Group) was named UK Private Business of the Year​, while Leeds-based ​Harrison Spinks Beds​ won The Family Business of the Year​ and ​Steeton​-​based Acorn Stairlifts​ won the International Business of the Year award.

Portakabin Group is the market leader for the design and manufacture of modular buildings and off-site​ ​construction​ and employs more than 1,700 people ​operating in seven countries across Europe.

​​Harrison Spinks Beds​ ​manufactures mattresses that are assembled by hand with all the components spun, woven, coiled or fabricated​ ​on the same site​.

Acorn Stairlifts​ has been designing, making and installing stairlifts for more than 20 years​ ​and is now the largest company in the world specialising solely in making stairlifts​.​

Brian Henderson, partner and UK Private Business Awards’ leader at PwC, said: “Portakabin has a fantastic heritage and has a long-standing pivotal role in both the UK construction industry and in British manufactu- ring.”

The finalists were selected from over a thousand entries from private businesses across the UK and reflect the increasing diversity in the private business landscape.