After a delay of several months because of the outbreak of Coronavirus, the winners of the inaugural Richmond Business Excellence Awards have been announced.
The Original Richmond Business and Tourism Association (ORBTA), which has over 100 members, joined with The Company of Mercers, Grocers and Haberdashers of Richmond (Yorkshire) to establish these annual awards.
The original plan was to hold the Awards Evening in March in the Kings Head Hotel, Richmond, but due to the Pandemic, this was cancelled, and alternative solutions were considered.
As lockdown eased it was decided to hold the awards in St. Mary’s Church, Richmond, but just days before the event, Government guidance changed, making it impossible to assemble with an audience.
The awards went ahead on Tuesday 15th September with only six people present in the beautiful surroundings of St. Mary’s. The High Sheriff of North Yorkshire and Chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership, Mr. David Kerfoot, announced the winners, having talked first about the qualities of Richmond.
Mr. Kerfoot commented on the difficulties overcome in holding the Awards, saying, “I commend the Original Richmond Busines and Tourism Association and the Society of Mercers, Grocers and Haberdashers for making such a strenuous effort to put the event on”. He went on to say, “Richmond and Richmond Town Centre is a very, very special place. Richmond has a tremendous record. How many towns can beat the following? In 2017 awarded the Sunday Times Best Town Award; in 2018 shortlisted for the Great British High Street Award; a silver award in 2019 for Yorkshire in Bloom and in 2020 Richmond and Richmondshire voted the happiest place to live in the UK. If people are happy, it is going to be a very rich environment, whether a business, home, or indeed, a town. Winning these awards has stamped Richmond very, very high up in the echelons.”
Chair of ORBTA, Mrs. Marcia McLuckie, said, “ The Business Awards celebrate the variety and quality of our fantastic businesses. I have been particularly struck by the diversity, imagination, hard work, levels of customer service, desire to succeed, environmental awareness and standard of the businesses in and around Richmond. I am very grateful that these businesspeople, their staff and volunteers are so very committed to making Richmond and its locality a success story. Thank you one and all.”
Richmond’s Business Excellence Awards 2020 – The Winners
Best Market Stall sponsored by Richmond Town Council
Carricks Fish
Best New Business 1 – 5 Full time equivalent Employees Sponsored by McClarrons
Low Impact Forestry
Health and Leisure
Charlotte Jacqueline School of Dance
Accommodation Providers
BnB at 43
Hospitality - more than 10 Full Time Equivalent Employees sponsored by Purple Creative
The Station Café Bar
Hospitality – less than 10 Full Time Equivalent Employees sponsored by Mad Hatter Tea
Granny’s Kitchen
Installers and Repairers
Richmond Garage Services
Trade Suppliers sponsored by McLuckie Projects Ltd
Kiss the Moon
Personal Services
Midget Gems
Media – Less Than 5 Employees sponsored by Zetland Estates
Richmondshire Today
IT, Media and Tech sponsored by Zetland Estates
Signal Telecom
Professional Services sponsored by Richmondshire Today
thecitysecret
Retail Food sponsored by The World of James Herriot
Mocha
Small Producers and Manufacturers
Ravensworth Nurseries
Retail Non-Food
Trinity Fashion
Tourism, Leisure and the Arts sponsored by Richmond Round Table
Georgian Theatre Royal
Employee of the Year sponsored by Richmond Rotary Club
Tara Collins (Neeps and Tatties)
Amy Kirk (Angus Morton Butchers)
Employer of the Year sponsored by Richmond Rotary Club
Purple Creative Studio
Three special awards were also presented: Special Community Services Award – Just the Job; Star of Richmond – Wendy Patch; The Richmond Beacon Award – ProPharma Group
The overall winner of the David Doorbar Award for Excellence, which honours his memory and commitment to Richmond and successful business was presented to Purple Creative Studio.
All the awards were presented to the winners in St. Mary’s Church by Marcia McLuckie the day after Mr. Kerfoot announced the successful businesses. Mrs. Faye Doorbar presented Phil Upton and Allan Guy of Purple with their trophy. She said, “All the businesses represented a large part of why this beautiful town and area is a truly great place to live and work. Your businesses, approach to customers and colleagues, creativity and hard work are inspiring examples of why we should promote ourselves/yourselves with pride. The winner of the David Doorbar Award this evening is an especially outstanding example”.
Mrs. Doorbar continued, “Purple Creative stood out because of their consistently excellent customer service and their history of offering highly valued apprenticeships to young people and the way they nurture them. They look after their long serving employees and have developed their business, changing over time to ensure they are technically at the forefront of their sector, ensuring customers are offered up to date products and service. They have an exceptional communication record and are very often involved in the wider community, always giving their time and support to local initiatives and charity events.”
The full awards ceremony held in St. Mary’s may be viewed on the St. Marys YouTube channel.