Councillor Chris Storey, Mayor of Waverley Borough Council and Councillor Mary Foryszewski, Chairman of Cranleigh Parish Council joined 80 business representatives on Monday night at the Cranleigh Business, Innovation and Growth (BIG) Awards 2017 gala evening which were held at the Cranleigh Arts Centre. Organised by Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce, six businesses from the Cranleigh area had been shortlisted as finalists for two Awards by a prestigious judging panel. The evening was compered for the second year by Philip Calvert, renowned Social Media expert and speaker.
Each finalist was judged in eight categories including innovation, initiative, sound management, marketing, customer service and skills development. The audience at the gala evening enjoyed short videos of each finalist demonstrating their passion and growth ambitions for their businesses.
The ‘Five Employees and Under’ award was sponsored by Councillor Alan Young of Surrey County Council who has been involved in the BIG Awards since their conception. He presented a trophy and bottle of champagne to each finalist – the Furniture Emporium, Idyllic Beauty Day Spa and Moooh! Ice Cream. He then announced that Idyllic Beauty Day Spa was the winner and presented the founder and owner, Harriett Levitt with a £2,000 cheque and magnificent trophy. Idyllic also received a Social Media Consultancy and Makeover session from Philip Calvert, also worth £2,000.
Idyllic Beauty Day Spa winners of the ‘Five Employees and Under’ Award with their trophy and cheque for £2,000
A delighted Harriet said:
‘To be awarded this requires the highest level of dedication in all aspects of the business such as customer service and professional standards at all times. We set out three and a half years ago to be recognised as one of the best beauty salons and so to receive this award is a testament to what we have achieved. With the prize money, we look forward to expanding our Idyllic branded products from our sumptuous, fluffy dressing gowns to Idyllic Candles for customers to enhance their wellbeing in the comfort of their own homes.’
The second award for ‘Six Employees and Over’, was sponsored by Jim McAllister, of Dunsfold Park and other sponsors. The videos of the three finalists, Atrainability Ltd, Cranfold Physical Therapy Centre and the Hair Company interestingly demonstrated that while all three were involved in health, they were all very different. Atrainability delivers training to operating theatres using aviation principles to reduce surgical mistakes, Cranfold Physical Therapy aims to reduce pain and discomfort while the Hair Company’s objective was to help its customers feel and look better! Atrainability Ltd was judged to be the winner of this award and received the £2,000 cheque and trophy from Jim McAllister.
Atrainability Ltd, Winners of the Six Employees and Over Award presented by Jim McAllister of Dunsfold Park and Richard Graham, President of the Cranleigh Chamber of Commerce
Managing Director Trevor Dale said:
‘Our team are all passionate about what they do and to be recognised locally is a real reward for the dedication and loyalty that the entire team have demonstrated. Change starts with you. A useful start point for us all though for 2017 is to start focusing on what you and your team do well and ditch the desire to criticise and blame. Since most of our staff are based remotely and some have not met each other, we will be investing the prize money in business focused meetings so that we can harness the gifts of all our team and plan ahead for the future.’
The presentation ended with thanks to the judges and sponsors followed by a networking supper generously supplied by retailers OneForty café and Celebration Cakes.
