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Jo Foster, Dillies Award: Best New Business, sponsored by Business Link, 2010I was thrilled to win the Best New Business award – we’ve worked so hard and it is great to have our achievements recognised. I would definitely recommend women in business to put themselves forward for these awards – it really makes it all worth while.
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Cathi Harrison, Para-Sols Award: Young Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by Gateshead Council, 2010Winning the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award was an amazing feeling – it gave me so much confidence and belief. To think that other people had judged my business as not just viable, but successful, really helped me to believe that I was running a real life business – it had all felt a bit surreal before that!
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Angela Place, Hair X Tensions Ltd Award: Best Small Business, sponsored by Durham County Council, 2010Winning an award is the best feeling ever, you get all the adrenalin running through your body as they announce your name as a nominee for the award and when they announce you as the winner it’s like being told you have just won the lottery, it feels great to put women in business on the map, and it’s good to know that some of the best business owners in the world are started and ran by women. The WIN awards are fabulous and I am very privileged to have won one of the awards in 2010
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Susan Routledge, Finishing Touch Health & Beauty Clinic Award: Best Retail Business, sponsored by Barbour, 2010It was such an honour to win ‘Retail business of the Year’ against so many other great businesses. It was such an uplifting experience and has contributed to giving us a new found confidence, to drive Finishing Touch to another level. The achievement of winning has given the whole team proud recognition for all of their customer focused hard work and determination to be successful in an ever changing economy.
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Joanna Feeley, Trend Bible Award: Best Creative Business, sponsored by SpaceCraft, 2010
I was thrilled to be awarded Best Creative Business at the WIN awards 2010, it came as such a surprise considering the calibre of the other excellent finalists in my category. I had a flurry of emails and messages from other business women in the North East once the results were published so it was great to see the level of support, and the credibility that the WIN awards generate. The press attention that followed really helped me propel my business forward and confirm our place on the creative landscape of the North East
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Rachel Poad, Rachel Poad Interiors Award: Best Creative Business, sponsored by SpaceCraft, 2010To win the Best Home Based Business Awards in 2010 after 5 yrs in the business was fantastic! A very proud moment as well as very emotional!! The great thing about the WIN Awards is that they make you stop and reflect on all your achievements and to have WIN endorse this category and have a panel of judges give their seal of approval amongst some strong competition - it really is a great reward for all the years of hard work and puts you on the map, giving the endorsement that you are exceptional at what you do.
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Alison Taylor, Food Local Food Award: Best Use of Technology, sponsored by Once upon a Tyne Productions, 2010The award was a great boost for my team and a chance to say thank you to the company that wrote all our bespoke Technology Dimasoft. And frankly it’s a great night out and its lovely to be told your hard work has been noticed
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Amynta Ward-Aldam, Tulip and Nettle Award: Best Rural Business, sponsored by Women into the Network, 2010I was really touched to receive an award. It was a lovely vindication of all the hard work and especially relevant to someone working in secluded, rural environment where you don't always get much feedback on your efforts!
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Lilian Mains, Zodiac Training Award: The Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship, sponsored by The Susan Dobson Memorial Fund, 2010It was a fantastic feeling to receive the Susan Dobson Award. I felt so proud and so humble at the same time. I felt proud that my achievements in business had been recognized by my peers, successful entrepreneurs themselves and that I’d followed in the footsteps of 9 previous role model winners of the award. I felt humble to consider that I’d received this prestigious accolade named in honor of an inspirational lady, Susan Dobson who had served the North East so well and hope that I can go on to inspire more women to achieve by maximizing their potential by displaying their own true entrepreneurial spirit
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Mandy Scott Award: Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship, 2001I'm a changed person since winning the award. It gave me an incredible confidence boost. Before, the business was successful but the award meant we could shout about it.
The UK's textile industry has suffered recently because of the European market but we've been able to stay on top by diversifying. Flags remain our central business but we also do clothing repairs, fancy dress costumes, specialist vehicle seats - basically anything that it is uneconomical to import. AA Flags is now in its fifteenth year of trading and we've bought out two other small flag manufacturers. We're looking to buy out another.
I don't generally blow my own trumpet but I've done exactly what I set out to do. I have a profitable business and a happy workforce. It's been worth the wait.
Business: AA Flags Ltd (Consett, Co Durham)
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Rachel Swain Award: Young Woman Entrepreneur, 2001The award raised the profile of the hotel and it was great to get some recognition for setting up my own business. When we hung the certificate up in reception lots of people asked about it and the local press gave us some really positive coverage. The business is still very busy; we have wedding receptions, conferences and two restaurants, as well as the accommodation side of things.
We've recently joined Best Western - a global hotel chain, so hopefully both Walworth and Darlington will gain some strong global publicity pretty soon.
Business: Walworth Castle Hotel (Darlington, Co Durham)
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Julie Lightfoot Award: Best Woman in International Trade, 2002It's not always easy being female in a very male world like the marine industry but winning this prestigious award certainly made me feel the business had more than proven itself.
Solar Solve received lots of positive publicity from the award and since winning it business has been very good. We have continued to expand and have launched a sister company called Sun Shade Systems. We now employ 21 people.
In 2006 the company won the Institute of Marine Engineers Award for Excellence in the Marine Industry and we have further plans to expand the business and look at new markets and product lines.
Business: Solar Solve Ltd t/a Solar Solve Marine (South Shields, Tyne & Wear)
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Julie Ward Award: Woman Social Entrepreneur, 2003Before winning the award I'd never really thought of myself as a business woman. I just did what I loved. The award conferred some sort of authority on me; I received messages of congratulations from top people in the arts and cultural sector. Winning prompted me to put myself forward for board membership of Culture North East, the region's key advocacy organisation.
The recognition also gave me the confidence to seek strategic European funding to develop a new creative cluster of micro-enterprise in my area, as well as a mentoring programme for aspiring cultural entrepreneurs.
Since 2003 Jack Drum Arts has become more focussed, streamlined and strategic and we have developed expertise in the crossover field of digital media arts and performance. The future looks very good.
Business: Jack Drum Arts (Crook, Bishop Auckland)
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Maralyn O'Keefe Award: Best Cultural and Creative Business, 2003The first impact of winning the award was that I was asked to give numerous talks for all sorts of organisations. I was also asked to join Enterprise Place in Tanfield, as Entrepreneur Director.
For the business, the award meant larger contracts. We've undertaken commissions we never thought we'd be involved in and once that sort of work is in your portfolio it continues to roll in. We have a full order book, a large and loyal customer base and the gallery is well established.
I have recently taken on a new venture in Italy where I plan to do stained glass and art-based holidays. Although I'd like to retire in five years time when I'm sixty, I suspect exciting work opportunities will continue to arise.
Business: Glass Design UK Ltd (Consett, Co Durham)
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Susan French & Christine Taylor Award: Best Newcomers, 2004Winning the award gave us the confidence to take the business forward. We were running a relatively new enterprise; it was an exciting time and the award was a big part of that. Since then, we've had steady growth and developed a range of contracts, from small one-off campaigns to large national campaigns. In the future we will continue to grow our client base and increase our staff numbers - 11 people work for us full time at present.
The road to success isn't an easy ride but we've found that with hard work, focus and true passion for what you do, it's possible to really make things happen. Susan French & Christine Taylor were also runners up for the Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship in 2007.
Business: Contact Field Marketing & Promotions Ltd (North Shields, Tyne & Wear) Best Newcomers, 2004
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Hilary Turner & Carol Metcalfe Award: Best Cultural & Creative Business, 2005Winning this award helped to enhance our profile enormously - WIN provides that all important opportunity for women to network with and gain confidence from other women. Since 2005, we've gone in several new directions. The business now provides artwork to more corporate customers; we're currently working with a Newcastle business park, installing mainly large scale artworks within every new building.
Business: Musa Fine Art Ltd (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear)
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Daniele Bainbridge Award: Best Newcomer & Young Woman Entrepreneur, 2005The award recognised not just myself but all of 1stFix Staff for their hard work and commitment in driving the business forward. It really boosted my confidence and made me proud of building the business from scratch. Right now, 1stFix Services is moving from strength to strength. We have maximised the business by offering other services within the company, cross-selling from our original recruitment service.
Grasp every opportunity that comes your way before others do - if you have an idea for business do it before it passes you by. What you believe is what you can achieve!
Business: 1stFix Services (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear)
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Christine Mavin Award: Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship, 2006On a personal level winning the award surpassed all other professional achievements. As a woman in a male-dominated industry this was very rewarding.
Plaster Piece a gained a higher profile both locally and nationally due to the media coverage and this in turn influenced customers, giving them confidence in buying and confirming our status as the North East's leading fireplace company.
Business: Plaster Piece Ltd (Wallsend, Tyne & Wear)
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Siobhan Bales Award: Woman in Technology, 2006The award opened up a few really strong networks for us and raised awareness of what we were doing - it was very positive. Since then we've also won Young entrepreneur of the year 2007 Runner Up, Outstanding Contribution to Enterprise 2006 and Best Regional Creative Business Runner Up 2007.
This year, bgroup's growth has been excellent and we've got a clear focus on developing our experience, and increasing both quality of output and profit. bgroup is a progressive creative agency and we'll continue to gain market share because of our in-depth understanding of digital communications and excellent strategic communications. Investment into bdaily will see the launch of bdaily.TV as well as a fully engaged online business community for the region, marking the launch of the UK's most progressive business news community serving local and regional business communities across the UK.
Business: The bgroup (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear)
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Jane Nolan Award: Rural Woman Entrepreneur, 2006It's always very positive and exciting to win an award and this one gave us something extra because it's so high-profile. The award increased awareness of us and gave everyone a real sense of achievement.
Three years on and the business is buzzing - we still work in the same markets but we now sell our innovative products in 28 countries. One big change is that we've sold Shark Group itself to the global leader in our field. I'm still the Chief Executive so we really are a North East company with a global outlook.
Business: Shark Group (Shark Sports Ltd T/A) (Morpeth, Northumberland)