Fylde coast's strong showing in BIBAs nominations

The Winter Gardens is nominated in three categories, the Tourism and Leisure Business of the Year, Medium Business of the Year and the blue riband Business of the Year.

Fylde’s Performance Springs is up for Engineering Business of the Year and Manufacturer of they Year.

Blackpool’s Proten Lab is also up for two awards, Manufacturer of the Year and Small Business of the Year.

ARC Fylde accident repairs is in the Small BUsiness and Family Business categories.

Wyre’s Levity Crop Scvience features in the Exporter of teh Year award and one of tis bosses David Marks is in the Business Person of the Year contest.

Other Fylde potential winners include Poulton’s Fox Brothers in the Construction category, Catapult PR in the Creative section, and VIva Blackpool in the Tourism award.

The applicants will go forward to a second round of judging which will see judging panels visit the finalists in their businesses later this month to select which of them pick up the awards.

Tony Raynor, Lytham-based managing director at Blackburn-based telecommunications specialist Abbey Telecom which sponsors the Service Business of the Year category, said: “Many of the judges who have selected these finalists are former BIBAs winners themselves and many of them have said this year’s finalists are among the best they have seen.

“In previous years, many of those which have not made the shortlists would have had a seat at the Blackpool Tower on ceremony night, but the quality has been simply too high this year.

“I would like to thank every business in Lancashire which took the time to apply for the BIBAs because it is a real undertaking to put yourself up against the type of judging these awards have.”

The BIBAs prizes will be handed out in September with surprise VIP and celebrity guests.

The second round of judging gets under way from Monday, June 18 when the judges for the Small Business of the Year category will be the first to hit the road for the ‘BIBAs On Tour’. Judging concludes on July 11 with the Business of the Year.

The full list on nominees:

Third Sector Business of the Year: Advocacy Focus, Artz for All, Ascentis, Community Gateway, Dance Syndrome, Positive Action in the Community, Primary Engineer, The Bee Centre.

Medium Business: Flavour Warehouse, B & M Waste, Cutting Edge, Fox Brothers (Lancashire) Roccia, True Bearing, Watson Ramsbottom, Winter Gardens Blackpool.

Manufacturer: Beech’s Fine Chocolates, Bowland Bioenergy, Flavour Warehouse, Nutree Life, Pakawaste

Performance Springs, Standfast & Barracks, The Protein Lab (UK)

New Business: JFN Integrated Solutions, Fresh Perspective Resourcing, Huxter International, LM Training & Consultancy,M4B

Mosney Mill, Richard Holden BBQ, Woodside Design.

Creative Business: Blue Wren, Catapult PR, Door4, Marvel at Everything, Sundown Solutions, Sunshine Events, Workhouse Marketing Yellowphin

Construction Business: Fox Brothers, FTS Merit, Newbury Homes, Pinington Construction, S&H Group, StormMeister Flood Protection.

Small Business: ARC (Fylde Coast Accident Repair), Better2Know, Door4, Gillett Environmental, JFN Integrated Solutions, Nugent Sante, Sundown Solutions, The Protein Lab (UK)

Employer of the Year: Advocacy Focus, Are You Owed Money, Better2Know, FTS Merit, Printed Cup Company, Sunshine Events, Suresite Group, UtiliGroup.

Professional Business: Brownlow Utilities, Fresh Perspective Resourcing, Hest Bank Dental Care, Nugent Sante, Pennine Wealth Solutions, Rotherham Taylor,True Bearing, Watson Ramsbottom.

Transport Business: E&C Distribution, Fagan & Whalley, Gillett Environmental, Next Day Freight, SCS Logistics, Walton’s Coaches.

Service Business: Sunshine Events, Currency Matters. Door4, Fresh Perspective Resourcing, FTS Merit, Granby Marketing Services

Pakawaste, Suresite Group.

Family Business: B & M Waste, ARC (Fylde Accident Repair), Brindle Distillery, Clifton Homecare, First Trace Heating Direct, FTS Merit, No 10 Hotel, Waltons Coaches.

Engineering Business: Cutting Edge Services, Ballpark Precision Engineering, JSE, K&M Precision Engineering, Lyndhurst Precision Engineering , Pakawaste, Performance Springs, StormMeister Flood Protection .

Business Person of the Year: Anthea Morris –Better2Know, Aaron Gorton – Flavour Warehouse, Rebekah Fitzhugh – Granby Marketing Services, David Marks – Levity Crop Science, Yasser Ahmed – Roccia, Heath Groves – Sundown Solutions, James Sandwell – Sunshine Events, Alan Aitken – Woodhouse Designs.

Business of the Year: UtiliGroup, Better2Know, Cutting Edge Services, Flavour Warehouse, Roccia, Sundown Solutions, Suresite Group, Winter Gardens Blackpool.

Exporter: Ainscough Wind Energy, Better2Know, Currency Matters, First Trace Heating, Flavour Warehouse, Group 55, Levity Crop Science, Paper Cup Company.

Micro Business: Group 55, Bowland Bioenergy, Next Day Freight, Pennine Wealth Solutions, Specialist Training & Consultancy, The ATACC Group, UK Media and Events, Woodside .

Design Tourism & Leisure: Barry Robinson Leisure, Hallmark Hotel, No 10 Hotel, Sunshine Events, The Bee Centre, UK Media and Events, Viva Blackpool, Winter Gardens, Blackpool.