Business of the Year Award sponsored by
TalkTalk Technology is the network operator and wholesale arm of the TalkTalk Group, the fastest growing telephony and broadband business in the UK. We first started trading in Irlam in 1981 and are proud of our roots that reflect the strong tradition of innovation and success in the North West.
We are particularly delighted to sponsor this year’s coveted ‘Business of the Year Award’ that will showcase one company that stands above all others in terms of delivering outstanding performance and best demonstrates why this region has a vibrant and resilient future.
Renowned for our own forward thinking, TalkTalk Technology has built one of the most advanced and largest next generation networks in the UK – one that reaches 80% of households. This means that voice, data and internet traffic is carried over a single infrastructure which makes us highly cost efficient and allows for the development of new value-added services over time. We use over 5,500km of high bandwidth fibre optic technology on our network, digital transmission equipment and currently switch over 2.5billion minutes of voice traffic a month. Our internet protocol (IP) network already serves over 2.8m broadband customers and is backed up with award-winning technical support.
Because we own and control our network, we’re also in a better position to respond quickly and deliver superior service level commitment. This is particularly relevant for the 200,000 business customers we serve, who are looking to deliver Gigabit Ethernet services, connect a geographically dispersed workforce, improve operational efficiency and ensure business critical operations remain robust and secure. We currently have 23% share of the UK’s broadband market, so Internet service providers like to partner with us too because we have developed the capacity and scale to offer transit services at very competitive rates to meet today’s demanding climate for real time applications such as media distribution and online gaming.
But while our network is the envy of our competitors, we’ve never lost sight upon the fact our success is built upon the talents of our people. There’s a real focus on teamwork at TalkTalk Technology and innovation is part of everyday life in the business. It’s about giving our employees enormous scope to work at the cutting edge of technology, share ideas and find new solutions that overcome problems and better serve our customers.
We applaud all the entrants in this year’s Salford Business Awards and wish you continued success in the future.
Innovation Award Sponsor
The University of Salford has a rich history of teaching, research and innovation dating back to 1896 and we are delighted to be sponsoring the Innovation Award for a second year.
At Salford we're driven by Research and Innovation - our work has been recognised as being of national and international importance in governmental assessments, 83% of our research was judged of international class by the latest Research Assessment Exercise. What's more, 12% was judged to be world-leading – at the very cutting edge. Not only does Salford's research directly benefit people's everyday lives, but it also means that our teaching and business partnerships benefit as well.
As part of this success we've developed into a dynamic and cosmopolitan institution with a first-class reputation for real-world teaching, ground breaking research and employer engagement. What's more, our historic tradition of innovative thinking and commercial success means we're widely regarded as one of the UK's most enterprising universities.
We have proven track record of working closely with businesses, the public sector and community organisations for many years to deliver high quality solutions and first class services. Our dedicated Business Services Unit is a “one-stop shop” providing a customer focused service to support your business needs.
The Technology Award – Salford City College
Working in conjunction with the local council and other key partners involved in current and future initiatives concerning Salford, Trinity Business Training plays an active role in the city’s ongoing and highly visible transformation, by helping to train and upskill its workforce.
Part of Salford City College, the north west’s second-largest further education institution, Trinity is fully OFSTED inspected and provides a comprehensive range of vocational training courses from pre-employment, to degree and post-graduate level, across a wide professional and industrial spectrum.
Delivered by highly experienced trainers and assessors with a collective passion for excellence and proven track-records for success in their individual fields, Trinity’s services have been designed to help create a brighter, more prosperous future for Salfordians across the scale. This ranges from the unemployed to those looking to retrain following redundancy, from local tradespeople wanting to brush up their skills or gain industry accreditation, to business leaders aiming to keep their organisations operating at maximum efficiency.
In keeping with the company ethos of ‘training without limits’, Trinity offers first-class professional development on everything from retail management to health, social and childcare. There is also a focused apprenticeships scheme covering a broad occupational field and even a full training programme dedicated to giving people with natural business acumen and entrepreneurial flair, the best possible introduction to the world of business.
The Excellence Award - Bovis
Bovis Lend Lease is one of the world’s leading project management and construction companies operating in more than 30 countries worldwide and employing over 8,000 people. Using industry best practices, we work with clients to create high quality, sustainable property assets and are committed to operating Incident & Injury Free wherever we have a presence.
Bovis Lend Lease have been involved in a number of flagship developments in the Salford and Manchester area including:
• MediaCityUK
• The Lowry Centre
• Lowry Outlet Mall
• Manchester Joint Hospitals including the new Childrens Hospital
• Manchester Arndale
• Manchester Civil Justice Centre
• Spinningfields
• MEN Arena
At the heart of Bovis Lend Lease’s commercial philosophy is the ambition to deliver sustainable social and economic benefit from the projects we engage in for the people and communities within which we are operating. A principle component of our major capital projects is the development and delivery of programmes to optimise local training, trading and employment opportunities, tailored to the needs of local people.
The presence we currently have in Salford has enabled us to maximise these opportunities for local businesses and wider community engagement.
We are currently working on the MediaCityUK project in Salford. The development, sited alongside the Manchester Ship Canal will transform Salford Quays and be home to scores of companies linked to broadcasting and the media industry, including the BBC’s Radio 5 Live, BBC Sport and local and regional news, BBC Children’s, BBC Learning, Religion, Radio, hundreds of technologists and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in the Spring of 2010, creating the Corporation’s second biggest base after London.
As a sponsor of the Salford Business Awards, we are continuing to support local businesses within the Salford area. The development at MediaCityUK has seen £95m (22%) of the construction spend being kept within Salford. This also goes towards the £236m (54%) spent within Greater Manchester which is a massive achievement given the design and scale of the MediaCityUK project. We have also supported 25 local contractors with the majority being SME’s through our stringent accreditation process which will now enable them to tender for work across the UK bringing further economic benefit to the City.
The Green Award – Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is proud to be sponsoring the Green Award as part of their continuing support for north west businesses, particularly those who recognise that looking after the environment can have real business benefits.
Although they are unable to endorse any one company or product, where they see examples of best practice which help to raise environmental awareness, they are happy to promote these to others through their sponsorship of events such as this. The Environment Agency is not just a regulatory organisation; they have a strong sustainable development, fisheries development, and a flood risk management role and are undertaking significant investment in the Salford area, particularly in flood protection measures for both business and domestic properties.
By reducing waste and inefficiency in the procurement and use of natural resources, businesses will strengthen their competitiveness and limit their contribution to climate change. By raising the profile of companies who are ‘green champions’ they believe that other businesses will be persuaded that there are competitive advantages to sound environmental management. They are working with regional and national partners to simplify access to business support organisations, which has resulted in the launch of Environment Connect, the north west’s signposting service now hosted by Business Link. They are delighted to have seen so many examples of local businesses demonstrating a willingness to reduce their impact on the environment and, by doing so, improve or maintain their competitive edge.
The Community Award – Central Salford URC
Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company is delighted to support the 2010 Salford Business Awards to promote the city, its businesses and their growing successes. The scale of opportunity being offered in the new Salford is unprecedented and Central Salford URC is committed to working with its local communities to ensure that this has maximum impact for a city and people with a history so rich in talent and innovation.
As a lead partner in MediaCityUK they are particularly pleased to sponsor the Community Award. MediaCityUK will be the UK’s first purpose-built digital media city. Central Salford URC is committed to ensuring that MediaCityUK delivers its full potential as the largest business and community development project in the north of England; delivering lasting transformational change in terms of jobs, training opportunities and community development, for people living and working in Salford.
The Entrepreneur Award - MIDAS
MIDAS is Manchester's investment and development agency and our role is to attract new investment and employment to the city region.
We drive the global business marketing of Manchester as a world-class location for business and deliver an extensive package of expert, free and confidential advice for location consultants and potential investors. We provide aftercare to recent investors and work closely with those foreign-owned companies already located in Manchester City Region, creating new jobs and increasing productivity.
The expertise that MIDAS has developed has directly contributed to Manchester being recognised as a Top Ten Major European City (Financial Times fDi) and more recently ranked 15th in the world for inward investment (IBM Global Locations study)
Working in partnership with the ten local authorities of Greater Manchester and the Northwest Regional Development Agency, MIDAS provides services such as relocation support, assistance in finding property solutions and advice on recruitment and training as well as assistance with securing grants.
For more information on how MIDAS can help your business, please contact our business development team on 0161 877 3000 or visit www.investinmanchester.com
The International Trade Award – Salford City Council
Salford City Council is working with key partner agencies to ensure Salford businesses can access specialist support to develop international markets. Salford based companies can access UKTI’s overseas trade offices and gain invaluable intelligence from specialist market reports, general economic briefings or reviews of current and forthcoming legislation. Overseas trade offices will also help companies attend trade expositions and arrange key meetings with businesses in specific sectors.
Salford City Council is proud to sponsor the International Trade Award as a demonstration of the ambitions it has to increase international connectivity for its businesses and communities. The City has had a friendship agreement with Chengdu in Western China since 1996 together with a number of cultural and educational twinning arrangements with Lunen in Germany and a number of French towns including, Narbonne, Claremont-Ferrand and Saint-Ouen.
The City is playing a key role in promoting Greater Manchester and the North West as a highly attractive business location and will soon be launching a dedicated website to attract new businesses to the area. There is clear evidence that companies who trade internationally are more profitable and in a better position to take advantage of the up turn in the global economy. Salford has some major opportunities in key international growth sectors and the council wants to make sure businesses receive expert local support and encouragement to develop their share of international trade.