Great support for Lancashire’s top awards

UK Trade and Investment North West and Lancaster University Management School are supporting the Exporter of the Year and Micro-Business of the Year categories at the annual Be Inspired Business Awards, the BIBAs.

They join a glittering array of organisations supporting the 18 awards categories up for grabs at the awards which culminate with a prize-giving ceremony at the iconic Blackpool Tower in September.

Clive Drinkwater, regional director of UKTI North West, said both manufacturers and service businesses in the region had led the way since 2009.

He said: “Our statistics show that businesses which export are, on average, 34 per cent more productive, 75per cent more innovative, undertake three times as much research and development and are 12.5 per cent more resilient than businesses that don’t export.

“To me that says that even if your business is not exporting now, it should keep export opportunities in mind when looking at future growth.

“One of the best ways we can encourage that is by celebrating the achievements of those businesses which do export and do it successfully – and that is why UKTI is once again backing the BIBAs.”

Dr Ellie Hamilton, head judge and associate dean for enterprise at Lancaster University Management School, said it had decided to back the Micro-Business of the Year award to celebrate the achievements of the thousands of Lancashire’s smallest operators.

The category is open to firms employing 10 or fewer people.

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