Cream of the crop at BizX awards
The prestigious BizX awards ceremony, hosted by broadcasting great Clare Balding, honoured the accomplishments, growth and contributions of businesses and their owners worldwide… in an exciting setting of innovation, networking and education. Businesses from a wide range of sectors rose to the top spots at the lavish awards with the food and drink industry’s brands receiving five nominations and two awards at the annual ceremony in its 10th year.
Fen Farm Dairy is a progressive third generation family-run dairy farm run by Jonathan and Dulcie Crickmore. The pair were nominated for a total of four awards, winning Best Manufacturer/Wholesaler for their courage to start over and re-create a new market in reaction to the industry wide challenges of the commodity milk market.
“It’s a very proud moment for us,” said Dulcie. “The last couple of years have been incredibly challenging for many sectors, so to be recognised for what we have achieved is wonderful. We’ve certainly been kept on our toes by having to navigate the seemingly forever-changing landscape of owning a dairy business, but we have come out stronger. Our Action Coach Stephen Unwin has been incredible! We have loads of ideas to improve our business but having a business coach like Stephen helps us choose which ones will best impact our business and customers - that support has been life changing.”
The artisan dairy was further praised for pushing through sector barriers and changing consumer purchasing behaviours in their business. “We’ve built our entire business by going against the norm. We now make almost all the milk we produce into premium artisan dairy products on our farm, which is sold in independent stores globally, not in chain supermarkets.”
Every year, ActionCOACH, the world's number one business coaching firm, hosts BizX to recognise and honour the innovation, passion, risk-taking and results of some of the best companies and business owners in the world. It brings together a like-minded community of entrepreneurs to share ideas, build relationships and learn from some phenomenal success stories. The awards are part of a two-day conference, which this year welcomed incredible guest speakers such as former Vogue UK editor Alexandra Shulman, and the team of The High Performance Podcast - sports broadcaster, Jake Humphrey, and leading organisational psychologist, Damian Hughes.
Wins for the food and drinks industry kept coming as the owner of premium-bottled cocktail company Swygge, Rewfus Brode, took home the award for Entrepreneur of the Year. Rewfus was praised for adapting his business model when the first lockdown hit by starting a complementary company to deliver to customers thirsty for high-quality beverages, whilst his event company was limited by the pandemic. Since this change, Swygge has delivered over 50,000 bottles of their premium cocktails nationwide.
“The magnitude of winning the award hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Rewfus. “All my friends and family are so happy for me. We’re trying to raise investment at the moment, so to add this incredible win to our pitch deck makes a massive difference. I want to say a big thank you to my amazing Action Coach, Natalie Simms. She is brilliant at opening our minds to new ideas and helping us create winning structures and systems. I know with her help we’ll grow even more in the future. Bring on BizX 2023!”
Full list of award winners:
Best Service-Based Award - Divorce Limited t/as Mediate UK
Most Innovative Company - MQP Ltd
Young Entrepreneur of the Year - James Haslam, Calztec Limited
Best Marketing Campaign Award - Tegen Accessories
Best Business Growth - Conveyancing Expert
Fastest-Growing Company - Solihull Sparky Ltd
Best Community Impact - Multisports for Schools Ltd
Best Customer Service - Lawrence Kurt Solicitors
Best Import/Export Company - Aeroworx Emergency Medical Management Ltd
Green Company of the Year - Klyk
Best E-Commerce Business - Calidad Home Limited
Entrepreneur of the Year - Rewfus Brode of Swygge
Best Manufacturer/Wholesaler Company - Fen Farm Dairy Ltd
Best Company Culture - DBS Digital
CEO of the Year - Jenna Whitcomb of The Day Nursery
Best Retailer - Healthy Pet Store
Best Overall Company - ABEC
In more exciting news, BizX 2023 has already secured retail expert and broadcaster Mary Portas to speak to those breaking ground in business in its line-up of world-class speakers next April in Liverpool.
If innovation, networking and education seems the perfect recipe for you, visit thebizx.co.uk to find out more about BizX 2023.