Welcome to the R-Awards
presented by
Valley at Work

The 2011 Rossendale Business Awards have been a great success. The awards are "for the business community from the business community" and the evening of the awards was a great night for all who attended. These awards showcase the success and positive side of businesses in the valley and congratulations to all the nominees, the shortlisted businesses and of course the winners.

Thank you to all the sponsors, supporters, media partners and attendees for making this a highly successful event and of course not forgetting the Valley at Work steering group members who give up their time to help organise it all. Looking forward to the 2012 awards.

Categories

Click on a category to view its Criteria. To view a Sponsor's website click on the Sponsor

Category

Sponsors

• Large Business of the Year (50+ employees)
• Rossendales

• This is a premier award for the Rossendale business community. It is open to any business of any age with more than 50 employees. The winner of this award will be a successful Rossendale-based business that can demonstrate a progressive track record with solid cash flows, a defendable market position, and growth in products or services. The management team will have demonstrated their drive, the long term strategy will be intact, and it will have made considerable progress with its financial, ethical and social ambitions.

  Applicants must be able to demonstrate outstanding achievement in all areas of the business including all of the areas below:

  • Performance against business objectives
  • Sound business and financial planning
  • Success in overcoming challenges to drive forward its business plan
  • Staff involvement and motivation to meet business objectives
  • A clear plan for future growth of the organisation
  • Clear evidence of customer satisfaction
• Small Business of the Year (≤49 employees)
• AM Accounting Services

• This is a premier award for the Rossendale business community. It is open to any business of any age with up to 49 employees.The winner of this award will be a successful Rossendale-based business that can demonstrate a progressive track record with solid cash flows, a defendable market position, and growth in products or services. The management team will have demonstrated their drive, the long term strategy will be intact, and it will have made considerable progress with its financial, ethical and social ambitions.

  Applicants must be able to demonstrate outstanding achievement in all areas of the business including all of the areas below:

  • Performance against business objectives
  • Sound business and financial planning
  • Success in overcoming challenges to drive forward its business plan
  • Staff involvement and motivation to meet business objectives
  • A clear plan for future growth of the organisation
• Made in Rossendale (Products and Services)
• Kingfisher Centres

• The winner of this award will be a Rossendale-based business with a product or service with a wow factor that they have developed from concept. Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

  • Why their product/service has a wow factor
  • That they have personally driven forward its development from concept to market.
  • That a market has been found for the product/service that has the potential for growth.
  • Clear evidence of customer satisfaction
• Rossendales Favourite Business
• Metis HR

• The winner of this award will be a Rossendale-based business that is much more than a good company to work for. Development and improvement of its people will be key to how the company is run, and how it communicates and develops partnerships with its customers and suppliers. The winning business will provide a beacon of inspiration for all organisations.

  Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

  • Active key human resource polices including skills and knowledge learning, equal opportunities, engagement, and staff satisfaction.
  • Innovative policies to aid staff attraction and retention.
  • Clear evidence of employee satisfaction
  • Clear evidence of customer satisfaction
  • Clear evidence of supplier satisfaction
  • Clear evidence of partner satisfaction
• Website of the year (Launched since 1/11/2010)
• ISSL

• The website must have been launched since 1/11/2010 and must be a true website and have a collection of pages i.e. more than 1.

  It must be of a business in the Rossendale Valley.

  The judges will look not only at the design but the quality of the build and check against the Equality Act and general industry standards.

  Include things like: Is it informative, easy to use, quick to use, nicely presented, does it contain relevant information about the company, does it inspire confidence in the company, does it link with Social Media sites to inform the public in other online ways.

  The website can be static (information only) or dynamic (online shopping site/property website/anything that is driven by a database).

• New Business of the Year
• Business Over Breakfast (BoB Clubs)

• We are looking for small businesses that have been established since 1st November 2010 and who have successfully overcome the various hurdles all new enterprises face to establish themselves. This award is designed to recognise and celebrate the new start up businesses in Rossendale, whether you are a manufacturer or a business providing a service.

  Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

  • Performance against business objectives
  • Sound business, marketing and financial planning
  • Success in overcoming challenges to drive forward its business plan
  • A team ethos and motivation to meet business objectives.
  • Clear evidence of customer satisfaction
• Business and the Community
• REAL

• The winner of this award will be a Rossendale-based social enterprise that has led specific community initiatives.

  Shortlisted nominees must be able to demonstrate:

  • The impact of these initiatives on the local community, employees, customers and suppliers
  • That social purpose is at the very heart of what they do
  • Clear evidence of community satisfaction with the initiative.
• Tourism Award
• CBT International Travel

• Tourism is getting stronger in Rossendale with the hills and the railway attracting a host of visitors. More and more businesses are being established to service this growing influx. We're looking for a business that is a true tourism champion.

  Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

  A professional and welcoming attitude to visitors
  • Use of innovative methods to encourage retention and referral.
  • Visitor and market satisfaction through impeccable service delivery.
  • Commitment to improving product or service quality by establishing effective product improvement.
  • Proactive promotional and marketing communication avenues to showcase the business.
  • Promotion of local produce and the Community.
  • Clear evidence of customer satisfaction
• Retailer of the Year
• Rawtenstall Chamber of Commerce

• Applications are invited from any independent retailers based in Rossendale who operate traditional retail outlet(s), sell directly to the consumer (via direct mail, farmers markets, etc) and/ or retail online. This includes recent business start- ups and those which have been established for some time.

  Applicants must be able to demonstrate:

  • Individuality, innovative merchandising and quality service
  • A keen understanding of the customer base.
  • Clear evidence of customer satisfaction