A night of drama , emotion and a Boro hat-trick at inaugural awards night
AWARDS DEBUT
The Tees Business Awards team ( left to right ): Bob Cuffe , Carol Makepeace , Martin Walker , Vicky Thomas , co-hosts Peter Barron and Pam Royle , Dave Allan , Nieve Morrison , Dave Robson , Lisa Gosnay and Chris Garbutt .
A night of drama , emotion and a Boro hat-trick at inaugural awards night
A
notable “ hat-trick ” for Middlesbrough FC , a poignant ‘ double ’ for Ken and Catherine Devereux , top prize for a familyrun business and a rousing speech by Mackenzie Thorpe produced a night of tension , excitement and high emotion at the first Tees Business Awards .
Hardwick Hall ’ s Coleman Suite was a fittingly impressive venue for the event – organised by Aycliffe Business sister publication Tees Business in association with headline sponsor PD Ports and launched to celebrate the very best performers on the Tees business scene .
Hosted by Pam Royle DL and Peter Barron MBE DL , the event also featured emotionpacked speeches by Tees Business non-executive director Bob Cuffe and globally renowned Teesside artist Mackenzie Thorpe . All four are patrons of the North East Autism Society , which was the chosen charity for the night . A total of £ 5,600 was raised for the charity . Around 380 people saw the coveted Tees Business of the Year trophy – dramatically carried into the room under the spotlight by PD Ports ’ Kirsten Donkin – go to Fleet Factors .
Founded in Teesside nearly 50 years ago and still managed by the same family , Fleet Factors is one of the UK ’ s largest independent wholesalers for vehicle parts , refinish products and PPE .
According to finance director Katrina McManus and sales director James McCulloch , who picked up the impressive trophy , it was a huge honour to be the inaugural winners .
James said : “ The atmosphere has been electric – fantastic . Everyone has been superb , every business has appreciated everyone ’ s skill sets and for us to take the top award is absolutely superb – beyond belief .”
Katrina added : “ We were established in Teesside in 1975 – it ’ s our home so it ’ s a massive thing for us . We ’ re known nationally now , but our home is Teesside .”
Meanwhile , Rich Himsworth , MD of software specialist Salesfire , was eager to share the credit as he became the inaugural Tees Business Leader of the Year .
Under his guidance and vision , the Middlesbrough-based SaaS ( software as a service ) company has expanded to more than 60 staff and experienced a revenue increase of over 40 per cent in 2022 alone – with an expansion
30 | Aycliffe Business