Local firms up for the cup at business awards

Leamington and Warwick-based companies are well represented in the finals of next year’s Midlands Business Awards.

Those finalists who have made it to the last round include the bosses of a high tech machinery company, an expanding upmarket garden store, a web development house, a baby safety helmet business, and a building services firm

Brian Castellino of Machine Vision Technology Ltd is in the final five for the Midlands Entrepreneur of the Year category. The Leamington Spa-based company provides systems that allow microscopic measurements to be made of production processes, including things such as colour analysis of products.

Steven Timberlake of Hidden Eden is a nominee in the Midlands Young Entrepreneur of the Year category. The 24-year-old has built the gardening store concept with two shops in Leamington and Solihull, with a significant online presence.

Both Brian and Steven are also finalists in the crème de la crème Midlands Business Person of the Year section.

Four separate companies from the Leamington area are in line for the Midlands Innovation of the Year award. Light Media, run by MD Tony Probert and his team in Kenilworth Street, specialises in growing customers’ web presence and in e-learning applications; Babynobumps, run by Susan Port, supplies protective soft helmets that cushion babies from falls as they learn to sit up, crawl and walk.

Alumet Systems Ltd of Southam, which has expanded from a fabrication and installation services for aluminium windows and curtain walling to a 100-plus employee design, manufacture, installation and maintenance company, is also in the running, as is Machine Vision Technology Ltd, based at Blackdown Mill on Kenilworth Road.

The awards are now in their fourth year and have grown annually. They culminate in a gala dinner and ceremony to be held on Friday 29January 2010 at the NEC Hilton Metropole Hotel. This year’s guest of honour will be Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Harj Sandher, MD of UK Special Events, the company behind the awards, said: “Feedback from the judges indicates that the awards are growing in popularity and in quality. That makes their job much harder and some of the debates on the finalists have been very intense.

“We keep saying that the range of talent in the Midlands is huge and the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking and it has never been more true. Our winners to date have found the whole experience extremely positive.”

An independent panel of judges will evaluate all the entries and the five businesses that make the final shortlist will be asked to present their case in person.