BPE Solicitors Celebrates Successful Cotswold Life Manufacturing, Engineering and Innovation Awards as Headline Sponsors
Gloucestershire based law firm, BPE Solicitors, celebrated an undoubtedly successful night as headline sponsors of the first Cotswold Life Manufacturing, Engineering and Innovation Awards on Thursday 17th September at Cheltenham’s impressive Town Hall. The awards champion and recognise the achievements of thriving industries across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire, and aim to showcase the Cotswold’s ever-expanding manufacturing sector.
Event organisers, Cotswold Life Business & Professional magazine, welcomed over 400 people to the striking venue along with associate sponsor, Lloyds Banking Group and event partner, Oasis Events. Guests included some of the country’s key manufacturing organisations, such as Innovate UK and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
Winner of the BBC’s Apprentice and respected entrepreneur, Lee McQueen, compered the event, presenting awards to the 26 finalists throughout the evening.
Mr McQueen was joined by Chairman of the Warwickshire Manufacturing Group and keynote speaker, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, who addressed guests at the awards ceremony and praised the Cotswold EMI Awards for revealing the huge successes in manufacturing from across the region. He said, “I can go back to the House of Lords and tell them that The Cotswolds isn’t just hills and stone walls, it’s a hub of manufacturing.”
BPE’s Senior Partner, John Workman, spoke at the awards, commenting, “We are privileged and delighted to be lead partner for this event and to celebrate the rich heritage, strength, and exciting future of manufacturing, engineering and innovation in our region. British innovation is world leading, many companies in this region, in fact, are world leading and that is truly something to celebrate.” BPE, who have offices in Cheltenham, Stroud and London, offer a range of services for business within the manufacturing and engineering industries, and work with the likes of Fluid Transfer, Future Advanced Manufacture and Versarien PLC.
The launch of the Cotswold EMI awards received a wealth of support from the manufacturing and engineering community, with over 100 entries, providing an important insight into what’s really happening across the industry. Each award finalist proved their worth throughout two rounds of rigorous judging from industry experts, including headline sponsor BPE Solicitors, the Omega Resource Group, UKTI, Gloucestershire County Council and the Institute of Engineering and Technology.
The winners and finalists of the Cotswold Life Manufacturing, Engineering and Innovation awards are:
Best Start-up Company (Sponsored by Gloucestershire County Council)
Winner:
PowerFlow Energy Ltd, Gloucester
Finalists:
Insphere Ltd, Berkeley
Sibling Distillery, Cheltenham
Sustainable Manufacturing Award (Sponsored by Lockton Companies)
Winner:
Premiere Kitchens, Gloucester
Finalists:
Green Fuels Ltd, Cheltenham
Kohler Mira Ltd, Cheltenham
Award for Educational Partnership (Sponsored by Gloucestershire Engineering Training)
Winner:
Renishaw, Wotton-under-Edge
Finalists:
Crowcon Detection Instruments, Milton Park, Oxfordshire
Xylem Dewatering Solutions, Quenington
Apprentice of the Year (Sponsored by Gloucestershire College)
Winner:
Joe Langley, Corin Group, Cirencester
Finalists:
Roisin McGrath, GE Aviation, Cheltenham
Sam Howells, L-3 TRL Technology, Tewkesbury
Employee of the Year (Sponsored by Omega Resource Group)
Winner:
Charlie Fryer, Arc Energy Resources Ltd, Stonehouse
Finalists:
Matthew Chapman, Fabric Architecture, Gloucester
Adam Payne, GE Aviation, Cheltenham
Exporter of the Year (Sponsored by Isaac Partnership)
Winner:
Prima Dental, Gloucester
Finalists:
Freeman Technology, Tewkesbury
Pashley Cycles, Stratford-upon-Avon
Smart Product Award (Sponsored by Hardware Group)
Winner:
Advanced Insulation Ltd, Gloucester: MS400 system
Finalists:
Corin Group, Cirencester: TriFit TS™
L-3 TRL Technology, Tewkesbury: IGUANABlue
Best Research & Development Project (Sponsored by Hazlewoods)
Winner:
AGD Systems, Cheltenham: ‘342’ intelligent radar
Finalists:
Spirax Sarco, Cheltenham: Spirax TurboPower
Versarien plc, Forest of Dean: Commercialisation of graphene
2015 Manufacturing Genius (Sponsored by Bruton Knowles)
Winner:
Neill Ricketts, Versarien plc, Forest of Dean
Finalist:
Peter Efford, Waterless Ltd, Stroud
Technology Innovation of the Year Award (Sponsored by Oxford Brookes University)
Winner:
Delphi Diesel Systems, Stonehouse: F2 fuel injection system
Finalists:
Advanced Insulation Ltd, Gloucester: MS400 system
Waterless Ltd, Stroud: Waterless shampoo & soap
CEO of the Year (Sponsored by QuoLux)
Winner:
Daniel Bee, OrthoD, Bourton-on-the-Water
Finalists:
Andrew Hopcraft, Omega Engineering Services Ltd, Cheltenham
Neill Ricketts, Versarien plc, Forest of Dean
Manufacturer of the Year 2015 (Sponsored by Glantus)
Winner:
Kohler Mira Ltd, Cheltenham
Finalists:
Arc Energy Resources Ltd, Stonehouse
Poeton Industries, Gloucester
These notes have been prepared for the purpose of articles only. They should not be regarded as a substitute for taking legal advice.