The West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Ball & Recognition Awards returned in style on Friday 12^th November when over 300 guests came together to celebrate the success of businesses in West Cheshire & North Wales. 

Taking place in the Pavilion at Chester Racecourse, the event, sponsored by Ellis & Co Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers, was made even more special by the fact it is the Chamber’s centenary year. This was reflected in the theme of the evening with each table being named after a significant year from the last 100 years and having upon them memorabilia and facts from that decade. The table centrepieces were sponsored by Cheshire College – South & West.

The evening started with guests enjoying arrival drinks in the Champagne Bar, kindly sponsored by Begbies Traynor PLC, whilst listening to a live acoustic performance by Anthony Kluge, lead singer of Skynights who were the live band for the evening.

After guests were seated, newly elected Chair of the Chamber, Helen Nellist, took to the stage to welcome all and to get the evening underway. Helen thanked the Headliner Sponsors for the evening, Ellis & Co Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers, and then introduced Chamber Chief Executive, Debbie Bryce to commence the awards.

Firstly, Debbie gave an insight into the Chamber’s history as she presented the original minute book from 1921. Containing clippings and handwritten text from the origins of the Chamber, the minute book contains a host of information about the lobbying efforts of the Chamber at the time, including skills and infrastructure, two things that are still crucial today.

Debbie also highlighted the incredible resilience and adaptability of Chamber members throughout the coronavirus pandemic and said it was a testament to their hard work and dedication that their businesses had not only survived, but in some cases, had come out of the pandemic in a stronger position.

The award ceremony then began with nine categories up for grabs for Chamber members that had been previously chosen as finalists. A Special Recognition Award was then announced and presented to Professor Phil Harris who has been a long-term supporter of the Chamber and only recently stepped down from the Board of Directors.

Once the awards came to a close, a raffle and auction took place to raise funds for the Neuro Therapy Centre, the Chamber’s chosen charity for the year. A total of just under £5,000 was raised which will be used to support the charity’s Virtual Centre which offers support and therapies to people with long term neurological conditions.

Louise Eccleston, Trustee of the Neuro Therapy Centre talked about the Centre's plans for the future and the important role it plays in supporting people before introducing a short film about the Centre's work.

Debbie Bryce said: “This evening’s awards have been an opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate the great work and success of our members. The standard of the award entries was exceptional and we would like to thank each and every one of our members who took the time to complete what was a record number of award nominations. As always, it was an extremely difficult job for the judges to decide who the winners should be, the finalists have achieved so much during what has been an extremely challenging and difficult period. Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all of our sponsors, your support makes nights like these possible!”

“This year’s event was even more special than usual as we’re also celebrating 100 years of the Chamber supporting businesses across our region. It’s an honour and a privilege to be the CEO of our Chamber, particularly during this, our centenary year, and I feel very lucky to have been here to help make a little bit of Chamber history with all in attendance!”

Jane Johnston-Cree, Centre Director at the Neuro Therapy Centre said: “We were delighted to have been chosen by the West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce as their charity to support this year. It is a particular honour to have been part of their centenary celebrations. The last couple of years have not been an easy time for many and this support has been very much welcomed in a year when it has been a challenge to hold our usual fundraising events. The pandemic created an opportunity for the Neuro Therapy Centre to trial virtual and telephone services and they have proved popular and life-changing. We now have the challenge of keeping this new initiative going whilst returning to our face-to-face delivery – it is a great challenge to have, knowing that this change can help us to reach more people with neurological conditions. We’d like to thank the Chamber for their support this year and all the award winners who make such a difference in their field.”

The winners of each award can be found below:

Start-Up Business of the Year Award- Sponsored by Zodeq Ltd

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Cyd Innovation Ltd
• Faraday Wheelchairs Innovations LTD
• Just Financial Group NW Ltd
• Mynydd Sleddog Adventures Ltd
• The HR Dept Wrexham & Chester

Congratulations to our winner:

• Cyd Innovation Ltd

Young Person/Apprentice of the Year Award – Sponsored by SQR Group Ltd

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Auron Polo – Titan Webtech Ltd
• Carolina Teixeira- WeMindTheGap
• Isaac Heyes – Russell Taylor Group
• Ryan Hardwick – Financial Fortress

Congratulations to our winners:

• Carolina Teixeira- WeMindTheGap
• Isaac Heyes – Russell Taylor Group

Export & International Trade Award – Sponsored by Edge Transport Ltd

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Cokebusters Ltd
• Consort Precision Diamond Co Ltd
• Limb-art Ltd

Congratulations to our winner:

• Consort Precision Diamond Co Ltd

Business Growth Award – Sponsored by NatWest Business Banking

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Cokebusters Ltd
• Lavinia Stamps Ltd
• Platts Agriculture Ltd
• Scanwel Ltd

Congratulations to our winner:

• Cokebusters Ltd

Made a Difference Award – Sponsored by Acton Edocs Systems Limited

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Cheshire West Voluntary Action
• Chester BID
• Cokebusters Ltd
• Helping Reach Potential Ltd
• Menopause 360
• Your Space (Marches) Limited

Congratulations to our winner:

• Menopause 360

Customer Excellence Award – Sponsored by Chrysalis People Solutions

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Limb-art Ltd
• Scanwel Ltd
• The Literacy Company
• Tours Around Chester

Congratulations to our winner:

• The Literacy Company

Young Chamber Award – Sponsored by Reserve Forces’ & Cadets’ Association For Wales

Congratulations to our winner:

• Archers Brook SEMH School

Excellence in Sustainability Award – Sponsored by Wrexham Glyndŵr University

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Anglesey Sea Zoo
• Biking Bookkeeper Ltd
• Cyd Innovation Ltd

Congratulations to our winner:

• Anglesey Sea Zoo

Ellis & Co Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers Award for Business of the Year

Congratulations to our finalists:

• Bathgate Business Finance
• JVP Group
• Russell Taylor Group
• The Literacy Company

Congratulations to our winner:

• Russell Taylor Group