Winners indicate bright future for West Midlands business

Telford company Aviramp won the business of the year award at the Nachural Summer Business Ball and Awards at Wolverhampton Racecourse.

Business person of the year was Johnathan Dudley, Midlands managing partner of accountancy firm Crowe in Oldbury.

Manufacturing business Aviramp was recently awarded a Queens Award for international trade and has been adopting innovation as a key differentiator in entering international markets. Led by entrepreneur and founder Graham Corfield it has been growing in terms of turnover, profitability, and employees.

Ninder Johal , chief executive of Wednesbury-based Nachural, said despite the testing last 18 months, the future of the region was bright.

He said there were many positive indicators for the West Midlands including the full letting of high premium office space like i9 and i10 in Wolverhampton.

He also emphasised the record number of start-up businesses in the region and the decision by the Government department known as the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities to set up its second headquarters in Wolverhampton.

"This is a sign of the positivity shown by national government for the city of Wolverhampton," he added.

Keynote speaker Dinesh Dhamija, of Ebookers, had the message "innovate or stagnate" for the guests at the event .

"Any business that has not adopted a digital approach irrespective of sector will be finished,"said Mr Dhamija, whoe argued that Covid had changed many things, but one thing was clear, that the level of digitisation had increased, and all businesses had to have an element of digital to their operation.

He reminded the audience of the need to continue to innovate and the importance of ensuring that there is sufficient capital to get through the difficult times.

Mr Johal said: "The awarding of the lifetime achievement to Wolverhampton-born Roy Bernard shows that anyone with dedication and hard work could achieve their dreams. During his career, Roy has built up a number of businesses and shown great resilience in achieving so much in his career. His current business is worth over £220 million and employs over 2,000 people.

"He was recently awarded a doctorate from Wolverhampton University and has supported the Way Centre in Wolverhampton as well as owning the Mount Hotel in Tettenhall."

The Mount also won the small and medium-sized business of the year award.

Acorns Hospice was the charity on the night when more than 490 people attended with £6,500 raised.

Other award winners included: business start-up – Indian Tavern, Dudley; community excellence, Starting Point, Walsall; entrepreneur of the year, Sham Malhi, Smethwick; international enterprise and innovation, KMB Shipping, Tipton; promoting apprenticeships in the workplace, Nant, Bilston; customer service, Morgan Payne and Knightly, Wolverhampton and enterprise of the year, Piquant, Bloxwich.