At a glittering ceremony last Thursday at the Halston in Carlisle, finalists and business leaders gathered to hear who had won the hotly contested 17 categories up for grabs.
The ceremony was hosted by broadcaster and journalist Cathy Newman, who gave the audience her take on Brexit, US presidents and how to talk in front of Princess Anne.
We won ‘Best New Business’ (sponsored by David Allen IT Solutuions), which recognises a successful company that has been in operation for less than three years. This is the most popular award in terms of number of entries and if the number of new businesses is anything to go by, Cumbria is in rude health. The county continues to punch above its weight, with a consistently high number of start ups in relation to the relatively small population. Commenting on Genesis Homes winning the award the expert judge said ‘the winner was impressive in every way. Slick, professional, clever and strategic, they have seen exceptional growth since starting out’. We opened our doors in July 2017, and we’ve never looked back.
Genesis Homes’ Nicky Gordon won ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ (sponsored by Sellafield Ltd.), an award that recognises an entrepreneur aged between 18 and 35 who has started a business in the last three years. It is acknowledged that Cumbria needs more entrepreneurs, particularly amongst young people. They are, after all, our future. Cumbria should be rightly proud of the many young business people we have. The expert judge for this category commented ‘Our judge had a tough decision to make. All three finalists demonstrated energy, determination to succeed and strong commercial acumen. The winner, however, stood out for their hugely impressive achievements so far.’
Commenting on the awards Nicky said ‘I am extremely proud to be taking home these awards. It really highlights the hard work and dedication the team have put into the business over the last two and half years. A huge congratulations to all businesses and individuals who won and were nominated for awards as there’s a lot of talent in Cumbria. We were pleased to see many of our suppliers and partners also win’.
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Notes to editors:
- For further information and interviews please contact Catherine Watson, [email protected], or tel 01768 800878.
- A high resolution photograph from the awards is attached.