On Thursday 22nd February the Neeld Community and Arts Centre in Chippenham came alive with the brightest stars of local business for the Chippenham Business Awards 2018. The event, organised by Chippenham BID and title sponsors Awdry Bailey and Douglas, recognised the efforts and successes of businesses in and around Chippenham from a wide range of industries.
The Chippenham Business Awards was sponsored by several local businesses including Berkley Square Private Clients Ltd., 24-7 Staffing, The Angel Hotel, Avagio IT, Naturally Social, Platinum Mortgage Solutions and Wiltshire College. The organisations came together to recognise the efforts made by their peers and colleagues across the town and celebrate local businesses and businesspeople whose hard work, dedication and innovation make up Chippenham’s thriving industry.
Tom Paget of Awdry Bailey & Douglas said, “We would like to say well done to all of the finalists this year who were all worthy of an award but we must of course congratulate the winners and in particular The Garden as deserving winners of Chippenham Business of the Year. We had a fantastic evening celebrating with everyone there and would like to thank Chippenham BID for putting on such a great event which we are proud to support.”
The evening was hosted by special guest Marc Allum, a self-confessed “collectaholic” and regular specialist on the Antiques Roadshow whose easy humour and infectious enthusiasm was the perfect accompaniment to the evening’s ceremonies.
The winners of the evening were:
Apprentice of the Year: Ben Lisseman of Digiprint
Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Cheryl Klukowski Stevenson of Taste of the Caribbean and Chocolate Blonde
Professional Services Provider of the Year: Goughs Solicitors
Hotel, Restaurant or Café of the Year: The Garden Chippenham
Creative or Technology Business of the Year: City Dressing
Customer Service Award: Bewley & Merrett Funeral Directors
Start-Up Business of the Year: Maria Christina Bridal Boutique
Small Business of the Year: Huw Thomas Commercial
Independent Business of the Year: J. Sheppard and Son Ltd.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Rick Squires
Chippenham Business of the Year: The Garden Chippenham
The Awards couldn’t have come at a better time for The Garden, who celebrated their third birthday just 2 days later and a year since reopening after a devastating fire closed the business. The determination to provide the highest standards and friendliest service by John Paine and his team alongside fantastic feedback from customers of The Garden combined to create an outstanding entry to the Chippenham Business Awards.
John posted on The Garden’s Facebook page, “So happy to receive these accolades at the Chippenham business awards last night. I just want to say a big thank you to all of the staff at The Garden for making the business such a success and especially to Marge, Phil, Jay and Gemma who have been on the rollercoaster with me since before the fire.”
Kathryn Crosweller of Chippenham BID said, “The Chippenham Business Awards offer local businesses the opportunity to reflect on their achievements and be recognised in the community for the hard work they put into their companies. It was wonderful to work with such a wide range of sponsors on this event and to be able to celebrate with the winners. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event!”