A Saltaire entrepreneur hell bent on creating Yorkshire’s first £1 billion business, a Hull couple who developed a natural dog food after their beloved pet Drago died from diet-induced Cancer, and a Bradford start-up selling sheds across Europe were winners at this afternoon’s prestigious Lloyds Bank National Business Awards where they were recognised as the very best in Britain.
Saltaire-based Fleetondemand.com’s CEO Justin Whitston was awarded The Inflexion Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The global vehicle hire company aims to help lower emissions and reduce traffic congestion and Whitston has set his sights on growing it into Yorkshire’s first £1 billion business.
Hull’s ProDog Raw, which is a natural nutrition dog food company, providing 100% raw food for working, sport, performance and service dogs that’s as convenient and affordable as commercial dog food brands. Judges commended the business’s ‘great product and customer focus’ awarding it The Virgin Atlantic Customer Experience & LoyaltyAward.
Bradford’s Powersheds – winner of The Lloyds Bank New Business of the Year Award – was described by the judging panel as ‘an exceptional growth story; a business with an innovative product tapping into a lucrative market: a clear winner.’
The business, which was founded in February 2019, has been a COVID-19 success story, growing from two to 36 people in just 20 months, and moving from a 10,000 sq. foot premises, into a 46,000 sq. foot manufacturing unit, allowing the team to significantly increase capacity and launch new product. The team aims to double in size again, creating over 30 new jobs by 2021.
Each of the three winners was praised for their business excellence during what has been the most challenging period facing the nation for over a century.
Lloyds Bank National Business Awards director Sarah Austin commented: “The wonderful thing about the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards is the opportunity they give us to recognise the very best of British business from all over the UK.
“I’m Yorkshire born and bred, so I was personally delighted to see the region perform so well today, fostering three winners and nine finalists – and such a diverse range of businesses, too. These results speak volumes about the innovation, creativity and resilience of companies – and the entrepreneurs behind them – based in Yorkshire.”
The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards are the UK’s premier cross-industry accolades for enterprise excellence. Previous winners include fitness sensation Joe Wicks, Timpson CEO James Timpson, DPD UK, Hotel Chocolat, dementia newspaper Daily Sparkle and online fast fashion success story Missguided.
