Tyrrells crowned Small Business of the Year
Leominster's Tyrrells Potato Chips has for the third year in succession won The AXA Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award in the Midlands and East of England regional heat of the 2007 National Business Awards regional programme. Presented with the accolade tonight at a glittering ceremony and gala dinner at Chesford Grange, Warwickshire, the company beat off stiff competition from Clifton Packaging Group, N4 Solutions and The AWM Group. It now advances to the November finals of The National Business Awards.
Founded in 2002, Tyrrells produces gourmet hand cooked potato and vegetable crisps which are sold at high end retail outlets including Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Waitrose. Tyrrells is the only UK chip manufacturer to grow its own potatoes and hand-fry its chips on its Herefordshire farm.
The National Business Awards, sponsored by Orange, recognises and rewards excellence, innovation and success. Uniquely open to organisations of all sizes and from any industry sector - public or private - the best of British businesses are able to showcase their achievements and benchmark their successes against firms and bodies of all types.
Tyrrells' Awards success is attributed to the firm's continued entrepreneurial spirit. From a zero turnover in 2002 to a predicted £9million in 2007, the company is still driving innovation through its product offering with plans afoot for the launch of its own vodka. Providing a major source of employment in a rural location, Tyrrells now employs 45 people and supplies around 300,000 packets of crisps to 4,000 customers every week.
John Anderson, the AXA Midlands & East of England Regional judge, said: "I am delighted that Tyrrells have managed to beat off stiff competition to be crowned regional winner again this year. A large number of businesses in the region entered and we were very impressed with the quality of entries. The finalists are all outstanding examples of the most dynamic companies in the Midlands and East of England and we wish them all the best of luck in their development. We chose Tyrrells because, although the business has continued to grow, it had retained the key ingredients that made it successful when it first won the award in 2005; innovation; focus on customer; innovation; focus on the customer; engagement of brand and passion for the business. Congratulations once again to all at Tyrrells."
