BUSINESS
OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by
Cornerstone Business Solutions
WINNER:
J & B
RECYCLING
Vikki Jackson-Smith has been at the
J&B Recycling helm since 1998, when
she transformed her father’s solid fuel
distribution company into a waste
management and recycling specialist.
And she now has a glittering new
addition to her trophy cabinet after J&B
Recycling was named Business of the Year
at the first-ever Tees Businesswomen
Awards.
J&B Recycling is the North-East’s largest
independent waste management firm,
with 200 staff working across three sites
in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool.
The company specialises in managing
trade and local authority kerbside waste,
serving customers from across Yorkshire,
the North-East and Scotland. Now
celebrating its 20th anniversary, J&B has
reported a £16m turnover. Operating
profits have risen to £1.2m, and are set for
a 100% increase in the next financial year.
Vikki said: “It’s absolutely amazing to
win this award in our 20th anniversary
year. The whole awards evening has been
so inspiring.”
Reflecting on the direction she took the
business in two decades ago, Vikki added:
“It was a bit of a do or die situation for us
with the decline of the solid fuel industry.
“I needed to look for something that
was going to safeguard 20 jobs at the
time. We’ve invested heavily in technology
to grow the business to where we are
now, and I have some fantastic female
employees, which is very unusual in our
sector.”
Vikki Jackson-Smith (left) of J&B Recycling receives the Business of the Year
award from Michelle Petty of category sponsors Cornerstone Business Solutions.
Michelle Fairless of Home Instead.
Katy Parkinson of Lexonik.
RUNNER-UP: RUNNER-UP:
Home Instead Senior
Care Cleveland Lexonik
Home Instead Senior Care Cleveland was
started in 2014 by director/owner Michelle
Fairless and now employs more than 70
people. The company prides itself on
providing the best possible relationship-
led home care for elderly people wishing
to remain happily and safely independent
within their own homes.
All 100 of the business’s clients have
approached Michelle individually – mostly
following recommendations – as she
doesn’t compete for local authority block
contracts, preferring to provide a tailor-
made, individual service. Michelle has
doubled the size of the company every
year for the past four years, and turnover
this year will exceed £1m.
Middlesbrough firm Sound Training for
Reading Ltd was founded by teacher Katy
Parkinson in 2011 after she developed
a unique teaching programme known
as Lexonik which dramatically and
rapidly improves literacy, vocabulary and
comprehension. Tees Businesswoman of
the Year Claire Preston joined in 2012 and
for the past four years has been CEO,
working alongside founder-director Katy
to lead company growth with the help of
predominantly female staff across the UK.
Lexonik has benefited over 60,000
students, from the age of six to
international students and prisoners. Now
renamed Lexonik, the business has a
turnover of around £1.5m, and the ultimate
goal is to influence the government’s
national literacy policy.
SPONSOR’S MESSAGE
Michelle Petty, Cornerstone Business Solutions: “Judging the
Business of the Year category was such a difficult but exciting
task. All those who entered pitched an excellent case but we
had to dwindle it down to a shortlist of just three with just
one winner.
“Those shortlisted clearly identified where women had
played a big part in the success of their business, making
it exceptionally difficult to split them, but we chose J&B
Recycling. With MD Vikki Jackson-Smith operating J&B in a
male-dominated sector, we were impressed with the recent
and projected growth of the business.
“We believe the impact of the first Tees Businesswomen
Awards will have inspired more local women to succeed in
business – and we can only see this fantastic event growing
year on year.”