“ THIS IS WHAT TEES BUSINESS IS ALL ABOUT – SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON OUR REGION ’ S BUSINESSES AND THE BRILLIANT PEOPLE BEHIND THEM .”
“ THIS IS WHAT TEES BUSINESS IS ALL ABOUT – SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON OUR REGION ’ S BUSINESSES AND THE BRILLIANT PEOPLE BEHIND THEM .”
More than 380 people packed into the Coleman Suite at Hardwick Hall Hotel for the inaugural event .
into the USA well underway .
There was emotion , too , after a brace of awards went to members of the Devereux family , whose haulage business has been a mainstay across Teesside for decades .
Ken Devereux won the Lifetime Achievement award , while his daughter-inlaw Catherine won the Making A Difference title for the work done by the suicide prevention and support charity she set up , The Russ Devereux Headlight Project – named after her late husband , and Ken ’ s son , who took his own life in 2018 .
Cath said of the award : “ We ’ re working for the people of Teesside to save lives . We have the highest number of suicides in our area and that needs to change .
“ What drives me on every day is Russ . He ’ s the absolute love of my life and there isn ’ t a minute that goes by that I don ’ t miss him . But I also want people to have somewhere to go , a place that understands if it happens to them .”
And the night after Boro scored three to clinch a play-off place , the club ’ s off-field activities bagged it a hat-trick of titles : Community Champions , the Diversity Award and Unsung Hero for MFC Foundation health coordinator Paul South .
Middlesbrough-based Fleet Factors took away the brand new Tees Business of the Year trophy .
Tees Business director Martin Walker , owner of Aycliffe Business , said : “ This is what Tees Business is all about – shining a spotlight on our region ’ s businesses and the brilliant people behind them .
“ The awards were an emotion-charged celebration of what makes the Teesside business community the best in the world . We really could have sold the room twice over but were severely limited for space .
“ We were proud to support the North East Autism Society on the night , boosting their funds and profile , and how fitting for our nonexecutive director Bob Cuffe to pay tribute to their work supporting his family and his son
Liam over many years .
“ But the rousing speech by the magnificent Mackenzie Thorpe – a true Teesside living legend – will live long in the memory . How ironic that Mackenzie is dyslexic because he is a master of the spoken word .
“ Dave and I were proud of the Tees Business team that made it happen – so our thanks to Vicky , Chris , Carol , Lisa and Robbo for their hard work and professionalism .
“ The only problem is … how do we build on that next year ? But we ’ ll keep on raising the bar and being the voice for business in our region . We couldn ’ t be prouder to do what we do .”
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 31