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September 6th - 2010
Guest interview with Lee Hicken, Hebe Media Hebe Media ran a very successful social media campaign for Marketing Leeds in Barcelona earlier...
Recession proving opportunity for many businesses
When Business Link launched Bucking the Trend - a competition to find companies who had overcome a challenge or grasped an opportunity - nearly 60 Yorkshire businesses entered with examples of how they were using existing resources in new ways, finding new markets, managing risks and being flexible and speedy to stay ahead.
Business Link will announce the ten winners of its Bucking the Trend competition at the Yorkshire international Business Convention, running in parallel at Harrogate and Bridlington on Friday 5 June. The prizes are six months of mentoring for the four Gold winners and one-off mentoring sessions for the six Silver runners-up from some of the region's top names in business - Business Ambassadors, appointed by Rosie Winterton - Minister for Yorkshire and Humber. They volunteered their support to help the region's businesses weather and grow in challenging market conditions.
The four Gold winners are Brandon Medical in Leeds; Ploughcroft, building contractors in Brighouse; Wellhouse Leisure, camper van manufacture in Huddersfield; and m2r, a recruitment business in Wakefield.
Helen West, chief executive of Business Link, said: "Nearly 60 businesses entered this competition with really inspiring stories of innovation and rethinking businesses not just to survive in the current market, but for many making it their best year ever.
We hope this will give others in our region ideas for their own businesses.
"A number, like Wellhouse, had lost most of their order book overnight and had to reshape the whole business - Wellhouse is now hiring out its stock of camper vans but also looked across the board to maximise their existing skills and resources.
"Others grasped a very new opportunity and exploited it innovatively but managed the risks tightly- such as m2r exploiting relocation into Dubai."
"As its traditional construction work disappeared, Ploughcroft launched its Rooferman franchise business for redundant construction workers across the UK, tying up with HSBC to ensure funding. And Brandon Medical is competing against the medical giants through constant innovation and speed to market - as the international corporates catch them up, they move on to the next product."
Helen West thanked the Business Ambassadors who will deliver the mentoring prizes. The first prize winners will receive six months' mentoring from Gordon Bridge, chief executive of AESSEAL; Kevin Whiteman, chief executive of the Kelda Group; Jan Fletcher, chairman of Montpellier Estates; and Nimble Thompson, regional chairman of the Institute of Directors.
The six Silver runners-up are Benchmark Recruit in Sheffield; Nathalie French in Ulceby; OLMC, HGV operator licence advice in Wakefield; Strulch, garden mulch technology in Burley in Wharfedale; Hipperholme and Lightcliffe Childcare in Halifax; and AW Hainsworth with their 'green coffins' in Pudsey.
These will each respectively win one-off mentoring sessions with Martin Allison, Dean of Leeds Metropolitan Business School; Neil Turton, chief executive of Nisa-Today's; Stephen Martin, chief executive of Clugston; Richard Gregory, chairman of Yorkshire Bank, Linda Pollard, regional chairman of Coutts Bank and Mark Andrews, chief executive of NG Bailey.
The stories of the winning companies can be read at www.businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk/yibc.
