Best new business award
Shaping the Future

Anglia DNA Services
Scientist-turned-businessman Thomas Haizel arrived in Norwich to do post-graduate research at the John Innes Centre – and stayed to found a company competing at the cutting-edge of world technology. Anglia DNA Services provides a confidential, fast and accurate test to determine paternity issues throughout the UK from its laboratories on the Norwich Research Park. Employing 13 people, the firm is now looking to move into several other areas of DNA testing, from checking for inherited human disorders to criminal forensics and even analysis of animal pedigrees.

Samphire
Former high-flying financial controller Karen Nethercott opted out of the rat-race to live the dream of selling locally-sourced produce from her charming farm shop at Blickling Hall. Her uncompromising principles insist that everything is locally grown or made, stimulating the Norfolk ‘field to fork’ economy by providing a market, and creating eight jobs into the bargain. All the meat used is from rare breed animals, and she insists on the highest standards of animal welfare. The judges were impressed with the passion she demonstrated for her business, and the quality of the product.

Sekura-Byk
With more of us getting on to our bikes to beat the jams and save the planet, cycle thieves are having a field day – except where Sekura-Byk has opened up safe and secure cycle parking. The Norwich-based firm already has a contract with Transport for London and has two cycle parks at Walthamstow and Finsbury Park where commuters can leave their bikes in complete safety at specially-designed, fully-enclosed bike parks operated using a smart card. The racks themselves are made by a firm in Thetford, bringing more work to the Norfolk economy.

Customer Care Award
Norwich & Peterborough building society

Claims handler DIGITAL INSURANCE SERVICES (DIS) has created and patented Valid8, a mobile phone feature-matching system which addresses the issues faced by insurers when replacing lost or stolen mobile phones. If a phone cannot be replaced with an identical version because it is out of production, Valid8 can find a current product with matching or better features. Based in Yarmouth, DIS has a solid customer contact strategy which is designed to take into consideration the distress a customer could be feeling if he or she has recently been the victim of a theft or has damaged their prized possession.

Conservatory builder and window fitter HENMAN GREEN, based in Dereham, is a company that understands that delivering outstanding customer service is the most effective way of growing any business. The family-run company has invested heavily in IT to support its customer service and level of communication. The company’s solid customer contact strategy sees it not only care for the customer buying a conservatory but also informing other residents that they may experience some disturbance during the process.

LASERTECH is a PC cartridge retailer based in Norwich. Andrew Wymer has built his business up to more than 200 customers in less than a year, something he puts down to the total satisfaction guarantee he provides. He will never compromise customer service and is quite prepared to go out of his way to exceed expectations, even if there is little revenue in it for him. His philosophy is that by providing excellent service he will not only generate customer loyalty but will receive larger orders and recommendations.

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in asscoiation with

Community Impact Award:
Business in the Community

DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY
There is a Dow Community Improvement Award, which invites local groups to nominate projects that benefit the community. The winner receives £5,000. Dow makes donations to community groups and recently provided £4,000 for sensory gardens at two special needs schools. It provides a variety of support for schools, including mentors for students at a high school, support interviewing and teamwork exercises and the Workwise programme.

MILLS & REEVE offers professional skills – last year worth £170,000 – to individuals, charities and not-for-profit groups through organisations such as Prohelp and Lawworks, and 70pc of staff take part in community activity, such as Young Enterprise, Workwise, the Matthew Project and YMCA in Norfolk . Mills & Reeve operates a charitable trust which matches individual or group fundraising events, and the company recently received a gold award for payroll giving, with 17pc of staff making charitable contributions.

NORFOLK COUNTY SERVICES (NCS) is involved in a variety of programmes that support the local community, including making substantial financial donations. It is especially proud of its involvement in the Business Action on Homeless programme in Norwich . This helps people back into employment and it has provided work placements on every programme, often taking up to five placements at a time. Many of these clients are now working with NCS or other organisations.

Design and Development Award
Bidwells

Chapelfield, Norwich
The largest UK shopping centre to open last year, Chapelfield is a model regeneration project which has transformed the former Nestlé chocolate factory site in the city centre into a spacious, stylish and contemporary retail environment. It comprises some 530,000sq ft of retail space, including a 140,000sq ft House of Fraser anchor store, and provides a link from the city centre to St Stephen’s and the new bus station. Chapelfield has provided job opportunities in the city and a greater variety of shops – especially in the fashion sector.

Lind’s BMW Mini car showrooms at Longwater, near Norwich
Space and light are the key elements in these new showrooms, which are designed to reflect the prestige and exclusivity of the marque, while enhancing the retail experience for clients, and creating a comfortable working environment for the staff. The scheme succeeds admirably, with both showrooms and workshops planned on a grand scale to fulfil the manufacturer’s requirement for a full display of the product range in a palatial setting. The overall effect has been a 37pc rise in sales.

Time & Tide Museum of Great Yarmouth Life
This former Victorian herring curing factory has been sympathetically converted to a very high standard. The strong maritime flavour of the buildings has been preserved and enhanced, notably in the central courtyard, which features a canopy supported by a 20m mast, and in the contemporary industrial styling, which complements the historical architectural details of the property. Since its opening, the museum has received 40pc more visitors than had been projected.

Environment Award
Persimmon Homes

ANGLIAN WINDOWS, Norwich
In the past three years, Anglian Windows has cut the amount of waste it sends to landfill by 95pc. Instead, PVCu windows recovered from installation sites, glass, metals and other waste are deconstructed at one of its plants, separated and sent for recycling, with much of the PVCu reconstituted on site to form new window products. Within the past year, 375 tonnes of PVCu have been processed. Recycling cuts down on the emissions involved in producing new windows and saves on energy consumption, as well as creating cost benefits worth £100,000 a year for the company.

NORWICH BUS STATION
The bus station has been a cornerstone in the development of public transport in the city and beyond, contributing significantly to the environment by regenerating the bus station site, making bus travel more reliable and attractive, and improving the wider environment for pedestrians and cyclists. The £5m Surrey Street station has revived a rundown site that most agreed was an eyesore, transforming it into a welcoming gateway to Norwich and Norfolk. It has had a significant environmental impact beyond the city centre site.

STRATTONS, Swaffham
When it comes to environmental awareness and recycling in the hotel industry, Strattons sets the standard. While recycling large amounts of rubbish each year, rejecting unnecessary packaging from suppliers, reusing water wherever possible and cutting down on unnecessary waste, the family-run boutique hotel continues to offer luxury without sacrificing the environment. It has an environmental policy that is regularly updated, with staff required to embrace the ethos and cascade that down to suppliers and guests.

Business Development Award
Howes Percival Solicitors

MANORCOURT CARE was set up in 1998 to provide services to elderly and disabled people in Norfolk. It has achieved remarkable growth, buying and improving care homes, running day centres, providing domiciliary care in people’s homes and building sheltered housing on one of its sites at Bilney Hall. There is a visionary aspect to what it does, developing the kind of care most of us would wish for as we get older. The Swaffham-based business has developed a training manual now widely used in the industry. Owners John and Fee Sharples have created a business with 200 employees and a £4m turnover.

In the past six years, MAY GURNEY has transformed itself from a regional civil engineering and building contractor to a dynamic integrated support and construction services company. It provides maintenance and enhancement services to the highways, rail, utilities and general infrastructure sectors. In recent years the company has achieved spectacular growth though the successful implementation of a strategy to focus on long-term relationships with customers and through some astute acquisitions. The business achieved a successful flotation on the alternative investment market earlier this year.

Norwich-based NPS PROPERTY CONSULTANTS has become a pioneer as a private sector organisation providing professional property services to the public sector. NPS is owned by Norfolk County Council, having grown from the council’s property department, initially as a business unit in 1993 and then as a limited company in 2002. Since then, growth has been impressive, with turnover increasing by 30pc a year in the past four years. Revenue this year is projected to be more than £40m. It has 750 staff and operates from 16 offices throughout the UK.

The Enterprise Challenge Initiative
Grant Thornton

DIGITAL INSURANCE SERVICES (DIS), set up in 1999, offers a service to insurers for customers who need replacement mobile phones or digital cameras. DIS offers independent validation and claims management that minimises the cost to the insurer and yet excels in customer service for the claimant so the chance of them renewing premiums with their insurer are significantly improved. DIS has a database of more than 175,000 products detailing all the key features, and using its Valid8 software it matches the most appropriate replacement and delivers it to the claimant the next day.

A lost dog in Norfolk and a ruined holiday for its owner gave Andy Keats the idea for a secure visible identification tag, linked to a database and a team of people that can link lost dogs back to their owners. From this one incident, KEEPSAFE has grown significantly and has extended the range of its services to luggage labelling, for example. Keepsafe has arrangements with the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust, Battersea Dogs Home, the Blue Cross and Wood Green Animal Shelter. More than 1.2 million dogs use the ID tag system.

WESTCOTEC makes and installs radar-triggered speed and hazard-warning signs seen on many of our roads. The company started in 2001 and moved to Dereham in 2002. It employs 13 people and prides itself on finding ways to help local authorities reduce accidents and the costs associated with major incidents. It has clients all over the UK, including the Palace of Westminster. Road safety is critical for most local authorities and Westcotec products are helping them to achieve their accident reduction targets. It has used its innovation skills to produce aids to traffic management that use less power and have better reliability.

Best Industry/Education Link Award:
The Exchange

Pupils at Aylsham High School and staff at the Marriott Sprowston Manor Hotel and Country Club, near Norwich, have formed a ‘dream team’ that is helping young people to learn more about exciting opportunities in the hospitality and catering industry. The hotel has forged a mutually rewarding link with pupils and teachers through mentoring schemes, visits and challenges. Youngsters have designed and produced a menu for Sprowston Manor’s Zest Restaurant, and have taken a closer look at increasing demand for locally-sourced food.

Encouraging good citizenship and stamping out bullying are at the heart of a highly successful partnership involving Flegg High School, Martham, and Norwich City Football Club. Their Fair Play scheme aims to spread the word to six Norfolk high schools each year, promoting visible, active citizenship among young people. It has already held two high-profile conferences at Carrow Road and uses the club’s study support centre for its training sessions. Teams of students are taught ‘peer support’ techniques, which they can then use back at school on issues such as anti-bullying strategies, setting up student councils and working closely with staff and governors.

Bright youngsters from Wymondham College certainly rose to the challenge when motor business Lotus needed some hi-tech new testing equipment. Through the Engineering Education Scheme, the firm provided students Henri Loombe-Temple, Robert Charlesworth, Sam Royall and Josh Peckett with a professional engineering project to design and manufacture in partnership with the company’s engineers at nearby Hethel. The AS-level maths students created a durability testing device that opens and slams car doors at various speeds more than 100,000 times. Lotus plans to use it on one of its new models.

Staff Care Award
Investors in People

BYFORDS runs a café/restaurant/deli and posh B&B in the centre of Holt. It employs 70 staff, 35pc of whom are part-time. There is a flat management structure and all staff are encouraged to put forward ideas. Investment in training – in terms of time and money – is considerable and all staff are rewarded with a share of the profits every week. ‘Are we getting it right?’ questionnaires are handed to all staff twice a year. Results are communicated to all, and then used to determine what action is needed for the benefit of staff in the future.

MANORCOURT CARE has highly trained and well motivated staff. Established in 1998 by husband and wife team John and Fee Sharples, they now employ more than 200 people. All staff – full and part-time – are encouraged into a philosophy of continuous training and development using care sector awards such as NVQs and management training programmes. They are rewarded with wage increments on successful completion of these courses. The sector often suffers from a high staff turnover, but not at Manorcourt.

REEPHAM HIGH SCHOOL was described by Ofsted as “one of the outstanding schools in the country, with high levels of performance not only attained but continually sustained”. These results are achieved by a well-motivated and highly professional staff, with whom Reepham High works tirelessly to develop in order for them to be skilled and able to deliver excellence. The staff operate with considerable flexibility and are treated as individuals..