Companies honoured at Chamber Business Awards 2011

This year's Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber Business Awards were staged on Thursday 21st July in the beautiful setting of Worcester Cathedral.

This year the awards, which is in its tenth year, had the theme of business heritage in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. In the Heritage category for Worcestershire, the Berrow's Worcester Journal was awarded the prize for their contribution to the local community and business community for over 300 years and Hereford Perpetual Trust were awarded the prize for Herefordshire.

The Overall Business of the Year was selected from all the category winners and judges were looking for a truly exceptional company that had shown significant growth and demonstrated excellence in all areas of the business of which H. Westons & Sons demonstrated all aspects.

Helen Thomas, Managing Director of Westons said: "We have been in business for 130 years and to build on our present foundation it is really important that we develop and encourage our people. We are so proud to have won both these awards. It means a lot to us and we want to be around for many years to come."

Mike Ashton, Chief Executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce said: "Businesses in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are making a significant contribution to the growth of the economy. The companies that entered demonstrated just how they are doing this and the standard was of entries was exceptional. All the winners were of a high standard and I know that in a few categories the judges had difficulty in selecting just one winner. I want to congratulate all the companies that won and entered.

The winning companies represented a variety of business sectors from all across the two counties and the full list is:

• Business of the Year sponsored by DRP Group – H Weston & Sons Ltd, Ledbury
• International Business of the Year – Fish4Dogs, Worcestershire
• Large Business of the Year – Malvern Instruments, Malvern
• Medium Business of the Year - Wye Valley Brewery, Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire
• Small Business of the Year - Magic Whiteboard, Worcester
• Most Promising New Business – The Holywell Water Company, Malvern
• Best Employer of a Student or Graduate sponsored by The University of Worcester - BBR Optometry, Hereford
• Innovation through Technology sponsored by Central Technology Belt – Viezu Technologies, Bromsgrove
• People Development sponsored by Sanctuary Group – H Weston & Sons Ltd, Ledbury
• Community Enterprise of the Year – Artrix, Bromsgrove
• Environmental Award sponsored by Claridge Nursing Homes - Lawrence Recycling, Kidderminster
• Service Excellence Award – Oakland International, Redditch
• Heritage Award, Worcestershire – Berrow's Worcester Journal, Worcester
• Heritage Award, Herefordshire – Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, Hereford

For more information about the Awards please contact Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce on 0845 641 1641 or email events@hwchamber.co.uk.