Firms celebrate scooping accolades

Hundreds of people celebrated the very best of Shropshire business at the eighth annual awards ceremony for the county's top companies.

The Olympic-themed Shropshire Business Awards, organised by Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and supported by the Shropshire Star, was held at Telford's International Centre.

See our photo gallery below

It was hailed a huge success, with the party continuing into the early hours after a gala dinner hosted by former athlete turned television presenter Roger Black MBE.

Dodd Group, the Telford-based engineering contractor, was the overall winner of the night, crowned Shropshire Company of the Year.

Other winners included Protomold of Hortonwood, for the second year running, ProAuto Training of Atcham, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, EPS and Border Holdings of Craven Arms, Barbers Auctions of Market Drayton and Six Media of Telford.

And in the hotly contested Best Sport and Leisure Company category, Shrewsbury Town triumphed over its fellow finalist Telford United.

The 650-strong members of the audience were also invited to become Dragon's Den-style judges for the evening by voting for the winner of the Star Idea competition.

Three local inventors presented their plans in the hope of winning a prize package worth £5,000 in cash plus business support to turn their dream into reality.

The winner on the night was Mike Drage, of Longden Coleham, Shrewsbury, who won over the audience with his collapsible, lightweight brick with a honeycomb centre which folds down to take up just 10 per cent of the space of a normal brick, making it ideal for military uses or for flying out to disaster zones.

Guest speaker Roger Black addressed the audience with an inspiring and motivational speech.

Awards master of ceremonies Carl Jones, assistant editor of the Shropshire Star, told guests: "For one night only, let's forget the credit crunch, let's shrug aside the problems on the high street and let's pretend that you don't need half a week's wages to fill your car up with fuel.

"Because this is a night for winners, a night to celebrate companies who are surviving the current economic downturn in headline-grabbing style.

"Shropshire has once again proved that it's no rural backwater when it comes to business - it's home to some of the UK's most dynamic and determined companies, who are receiving national recognition for their achievements."

And the winners are . . .

Company of the Year - Dodd Group

Innovation - ProAuto Training

Technology - Protomold

Export - Border Holdings

Customer Service - Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust

Best New Business - Six Media

Rural Business - Barbers Auctions LLP

Sport & Leisure - Shrewsbury Town FC

Enterprise (Chamber members) - EPS

Star Idea - Mike Drage

By Shropshire Star Business Editor Amy Bould

Company of the Year winners Dodd Group. Front, Nick Jones, back, from left; Martin Farmer, Russell Dodd, Mark Dodd.

Guest speaker Roger Black with Star Idea winner Michael Drage and the Shropshire Star's Business Editor Amy Bould.

Roger Black with the winners of the Best New Business award, Six Media. From left; Roger Black, Darren Wood, Steve Parker, Graham Morris.

Revellers from Border Holdings celebrate scooping the export award.

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce president Tony Randall.

Juliette Ferrington helped host the event.

The award for Best Rural Business was presented to Barbers Auctioneers by Peter Pawsey, right, for the Rural Regeneration Zone.

The Customer Service Award was presented to the Ironbridge Gorge Museums chief executive Steve Miller by Allison White.

The Technology Award went to Protomold. From left; Protmold UK general manager John Tumelty, Damian Hennessey and Roger Black.

Shrewsbury Town FC was presented with the award for Best Sport and Leisure Business From left; Roger Black, company secretary David Parry, managing director Rob Bickerton and Salop Leisure chairman Tony Bywater, who presented the award.

The award for Innovation was presented to ProAuto Training by Sarah Raper, chief executive of Transforming Telford. Holding the award is Julian Lloyd.

The Enterprise Award was given to EPS Ltd by Peter Mathews, right, the Midlands World Trade Forum president.