The best of North Tyneside’s businesses have been celebrated at the glittering North Tyneside Business Awards.
The annual awards, which are organised by the North Tyneside Business Forum, celebrate the huge contribution that businesses make to the local economy and how they make North Tyneside a great place to live, work and visit. The ceremony was held at the Village Hotel and was attended by members of the business community and hosted by BBC presenter Steffen Peddie.
This year there were four categories with the winner of each being automatically entered into the prestigious ‘Business of the Year’ award. The winners of each category were:
New Business – Frontline Integrity Ltd, an independent consultancy with expertise in the management of pipeline cracking based at Cobalt Business Exchange. The firm offers a customised range of services for the oil, gas and mining industries. The firm started in early 2020 and has secured several large contracts with global corporations.
Can Do – Purple Chilli Ltd (Silent Disco 4U) Based in North Shields, Silent Disco 4U are the UK’s original silent disco suppliers catering for events of all sizes across the UK and beyond. They expanded their business byoffering new services including public cinema hire despite the rest of the events industry suffering through the pandemic.
Diversification – Bash Academy – A beauty academy based in Benton specialising in teaching brow and lash beauty techniques which started its training academy during lockdown to support and encourage new technicians to start their own businesses.
Heart of the Business – Happy Planet Creative Arts CIC, a local, ethical and award winning gift shop in Whitley Bay offering original handmade goods created by local and national artists, as well as fair trade products. Despite losing her ability to speak following a violent attack, Gail Curry has proactively engaged with a diverse cross section of the community using art as a language accessible to all.
The “North Tyneside Business of the Year” award for 2021 went to Frontline Integrity Ltd.
Technical Director Brian Kerrigan said: “ Receiving two awards tonight is testament to the hard work the whole team has put into the business since we set up during the first pandemic. We are a North Tyneside business working all over the globe and I’m very proud of where we are based and the work we do.”
There was also the Heart of the Community Award which was nominated and voted for by the public to recognise businesses which show that it is not just the cash flow of a business that counts; it is making a positive difference to the borough. The finalists were MBS Gardens from Whitley Bay and H&S Convenience Store Wallsend with the winner Jillys Homebake from the Rose Inn Wallsend whose voluntary work feeding those in need received the most public votes.
Elected Mayor of North Tyneside Norma Redfearn CBE presented the special “Spirit of North Tyneside Award” to North Tyneside Business Forum for their contribution to business in the borough.
Karen Goldfinch, Chair of the North Tyneside Business Forum, said: “ These awards have acknowledged the strength and determination shown by businesses through what’s been an unprecedented time of late. Every finalist was a winner in their own right and the quality of the submissions gives me as Chair a lot of confidence that North Tyneside is definately fully open for business.”
