Featherstone based business Millennium Care Services Ltd, have been awarded the Business of the Month prize for July which was presented to them on 7th August 2014.
Founded in 1998 the business originally started with one care home, but soon after found a niche market in offering support for adults with various learning disabilities through, care homes, supported living, activity centres and domiciliary care.
The company attracts revenue from both public and private sources and has a number of different clients other than the actual services users, including family or guardians, local authorities and health care commissioning groups. The group owns a number of properties ranging from a 2 bedroom terrace house for supported living, up to a care home with 19 beds, and has delivered strong organic growth over the last three years
The judging panel were most impressed with the strong growth that the group has shown whilst working in what is a very challenging and sensitive environment. Also by having around 250 employees currently and with planned openings this will increase to 300 by the end of 2014 the business has a significant impact on employment within the local communities served by Millennium in the region.
Managing Director Steven Clough said ”We are delighted to win this award that has recognised business excellence for over 20 years. We have a great team of people at Millennium and hopefully we can continue to help support more people in the future”.
Founded over 100 years ago, Hewitt & Booth is part of the John Brierley Group, an old established textile business which was started by the current owner’s great grandfather. In the past they specialised in manufacturing smokers pipe cleaners which at the time was a very large market. As this sector has declined over recent years, the company has had to develop new markets and now operates in many different specialist areas including medical, engineering, laboratories, craft, sports, gardening and textiles. The craft market is the largest by turnover closely followed by the medical industry.
The judges were impressed by recent strategic development plans which have been put into place to help drive the business forward including a business merger, on-going training on a range of lean manufacturing techniques for all staff, recruitment of sales and marketing personnel and the launch of a new website and associated branding.
Coupled with them being market leaders in their field and the only one in the UK, they can offer turnaround times which are around a third quicker than all of their overseas competitors. The future looks very promising for this long established local manufacturing business.
Managing Director Viv Jebson said ”We are thrilled to bits to have won the Eaton Smith “Business of the Month” Award, it’s great recognition for the abilities of the fantastic employees in this business to adapt to change as Hewitt and Booth has reinvented itself over time”.
J. G. Harrison & Sons, founded in 1951 by George Harrison from his Huddersfield home initially, is a local, family run business and UK supplier of lighting and electrical goods that today employs 45 people from across its Dewsbury, Halifax, Bradford and Rochdale stores.
John Harrison took over the business in the 1960s and remains managing director, now semi-retired, with son and sales director Chris Harrison taking a more proactive day to day role in the management of the business. The firm continues to serve the retail market, but puts the continued success down to the growth in its commercial offering.
Liaising with Kirklees Council to secure up to £5,000 grant funding, business development manager, Amanda Speight has upgraded in excess of 50 organisations’ lighting to low energy LED alternatives.
This includes Huddersfield-based Metrodent, a manufacturer and distributor to the dental industry. J.G. Harrison & Sons completed a £17,000 lighting upgrade within the manufacturer’s factory and offices, securing a £5,000 grant funding from Kirklees Council towards the upgrade.
The judges involved in selecting J. G. Harrison & Sons Ltd as the business of the month winner were impressed with J. G. Harrisons & Sons longevity in business. Kate Booth, Associate Solicitor at Eaton Smith who led the judging panel commented:“We were very impressed with J. G. Harrison & Sons application and felt that it clearly stood out against the others. It was clear that a lot of time and effort had been spent putting it together and it was very well presented. We liked the story of the firm, and the fact that it has weathered the recession well with steady turnover and avoiding redundancies. I was further personally was impressed that they employ 45 members of staff.
“We were impressed with their environmental products and service and thought that this would stand them in good stead. All in all, they were an easy choice for this month’s winner.”
Chris Harrison, Sales Director for J. G. Harrison & Sons commented:
“We’re overjoyed to win the award. We have been so busy running the business for more than 60 years that we have never entered anything like this before. The recognition is great and we’d like to thank our hard working team for finding innovative ways to continue such success.”
