Business of the Year AWARD Winner: Westcoast
Charlotte Best, Westcoast, (2nd left) collected the award from Christopher Avery, Pitmans, (right)
Now it was time for the Business of the Year – the title every company wants on their corporate publicity.
This award has been a constant over the 20 years of the Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards, which legal advisers Pitmans have supported from its inception.
So, as the sponsor of this category on this special ‘birthday’ occasion, Christopher Avery, managing partner of Pitmans, assisted by Nick Hewer, announced and presented the award- winners.
Last year this title was won by Westcoast, the IT products supplier – and they were again the winners, but the full list of six finalists made impressive reading: Content Guru, from its Bracknell headquarters, provides cloud-based front-line communications services for thousands of organisations worldwide. The company’s storm platform provides a single environment for all channels of corporate contact, including social media, web chat, text and voice; Oxford Products, the leading supplier of motorcycle and cycle accessories in the country. At the 2014 Oxfordshire Business Awards the company was judged Business of the Year and its managing director Andrew Hammond ‘Business Person of the Year’; Peter Brett Associates, an independent practice of engineers, planners, scientists and property professionals, which over the past 50 years has grown steadily to work extensively within property development and infrastructure sectors across the UK and central Europe. It employs more than 600 and operates from 20 locations including Reading, London, Berlin and Prague; Sun Mark provides and
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER14/JANUARY15
distributes its own-brand supermarket products to 110 countries. It has the unique accolade of being the only British company to have won the Queens Award for Enterprise five years running from 2009 to 2013; Thomas International, the global leader in people assessment solutions, empowering people in business, education and sport to transform and improve the performance of individuals and teams; and, Westcoast, the leading supplier of leading IT products to a broad range of trade-only resellers, retailers and office product dealers. It is also, with a £1.2 billion turnover, currently listed at No 4 in the Thames Valley 250 ranking of privately-owned companies.
All excellent businesses in their own right, the other finalists were duly honoured as they collected their awards from the stage. Content Guru was awarded second pace, Sun Mark took third place, and Thomas International, Peter Brett Associates, and Oxford Products received Highly Commended certificates.
As Christopher Avery presented the winner’s prized Business of the Year Award to Charlotte Best, sales manager of Westcoast, the accolade of the judges was read out by Fiona Bruce: “Westcoast is a company that has grown to be one of the largest in the Thames Valley and which, despite expanding at an extraordinary pace, continues to be both innovative and enthusiastic in its approach to managing all aspects of the business.”
Westcoast was founded in 1984 by today’s chairman, Joe Hemani, who started the business importing HP computers from the West Coast of America. Now in its 30th year, the company employs 1,200 people in the UK and Ireland, and
www.businessmag.co.uk
is the number one UK distributor for many of its vendors and customers.
Afterwards Fiona Bruce interviewed Westcoast’s Charlotte Best and asked her how Westcoast had maintained its high standards to win the Business of the Year title for the second year running.
“I think it is really important that Westcoast has focused on four core values. We are still an entrepreneurial company through and through. We are flexible, we have got a personal touch with our customers and above all we are just passionate about everything that we do with our customers and our vendors,” said Best.
BUSINESS MAGAZINE AWARDS 2014
THAMES VALLEY
SPONSORED BY Celebrating its 20th year
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64