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businessupdate News…


Newport electrical control systems integrator has proved that it’s abright spark by scooping not one but two awards at the South Wales Chamber of


picked up the award for Skills and People Development. Robert Jones MBE, regional director for


Commerce Business Awards 2013, run in association with the University of Glamorgan Business School. Industrial Automation and Control picked


up the award for International Company of the Year, while its managing director, Peter Lewis, was crowned Entrepreneur of the Year at last week’s ceremony, which was held in Swansea. IAC operates from a37,000 sq ft modern


manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Newport, employing 64 staff with an annual turnover of £8.5m. Its export business accounts for more than 60 per cent of annual sales, with aprojected value in 2012 of £8 million. The business has been driven by Peter


Lewis, an engineer by background, who started his career as an apprentice before deciding to start his own business to see if he was capable of making it on his own. This is the third time IAC has scooped two


South Wales Chamber Awards at one event. Last year, it was crowned Welsh Company of the Year while its Marketing and HR Manager, Kath Lewis, also won the Graduate of the Year award.


Peter Lewis said: “I am absolutely delighted that –yet again –IAC has won not


one, but two awards at the chamber awards. “IAC has an extremely strong balance


sheet which has allowed us to survive the recent recession. Although many companies laid people off, we decided to retain our workforce to safeguard the future of the business –adecision which has paid off in the long run.” There were other Gwent firms among the


winners including Caldicot’s Hudman Limited who won the TechnologyInnovationAward and Caerphilly’sThomas Carroll Group, which


Thomas Carroll Group said: “It means so much to us to win this award. In order to achieve business excellence and ensure the future success of the business, we invest heavily in our people who are, after all, at the very centre of what we do. This has been evidenced not only by this award but also by the fact that we have been ranked for the past eight years in the Sunday Times top 100 Best Small Company to work for and have placed 67th in the 2013 list. “Our new recruits tell us that we are the


‘employer of choice’, and you can get no more ringing endorsement than that!” Paul Driscoll director from Hudman


Limited, said: “I am absolutely delighted to win the TechnologyInnovation award, as it goes to the heart of what we do. “We have developed aproduct that will


help small businessesinWales to have access to sophisticated accountancy and Enterprise Resource Planning software without breaking the bank. “Small companies are the backbone of the


Welsh economy, so it has given me great pleasure to have come up with acost effective solution that will ultimatelyhelp their businesses run more effectivelyand improve their competitiveness.” Graham Morgan, director of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, said: “All of


Tuesday March 5, 2013


Newportfirmscoresadouble A


the winners have performed excellently over the last year in what has been avery tough time for businesses. “The standard of entries were all


extremely high, and all of the winners should be very proud of their achievements.” Now in their eleventh year, the South


Wales Chamber of Commerce Business Awards reflect the efforts of businesses and individuals throughoutthe whole of 2012.


Left: Peter and Kath Lewis from IAC with their awards Above: Hudman Ltd with their award


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