COOK Trading Ltd Named Swale Business of the Year 2016!

Written by Stephen Chapman on 15th October 2016

After an incredibly hard fought contest, COOK Trading Ltd has been named the 2016 Swale Business of the Year. Along with the kudos of winning they were also the recipients of a £1,000 cheque.

The 2016 gala dinner and awards were presided over by Nicola Everett and took place on Friday 14th October, with all finalists enjoying a sumptuous three-course dinner prior to the announcement of the winners, followed by drinks and dancing. There was also a charity raffle to raise money for the Mayor of Swale’s chosen charities - SSAFA Forces Help and The Perthes Association.

Dale Penfold of COOK Trading Ltd spoke about the win “I’m completely over the moon, we never expected to win. We’re very excited that we can influence other companies to go the same way that we’re going. We can use our business as a force for good in society.”

There were several other winners on the night, with CS One Design Ltd being named “Small Business of the Year”; Farmwood Mechanical & Electrical Services Ltd winning “Employer of the Year” and the “Judges Special Award” going to PlantWorks Ltd. There was also a dual winner for the “Customer Service and Commitment Award”, which went to No Place Like Home Ltd and William Whitmey Independent Funeral Directors Ltd.

As part of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the awards, for the first time ever there were also regional winners, with businesses being selected as the Business of the Year for their area. Bombus Ltd was named “Faversham Business of the Year;” AngelsLocks Ltd winning “Sheppey Business of the Year” and Gallery Direct Ltd was selected as “Sittingbourne Business of the Year”.

Adam Larking of CS One Design Ltd spoke about winning Small Business of the Year: “It is an extreme honour to receive the award and it is all down to the hard work of the team. There is no company without the team behind it. There are such a diverse range of businesses at the awards, the judges must have had an extremely hard job, but it has been conducted well, the evening is fantastic, the venue is brilliant and it’s been extremely well organised throughout. I would highly recommend that people enter the awards.”

Liz Jordan, Chair of the Awards spoke about how difficult the judges had found selecting the winners: “For the tenth year in a row, The Swale Business Awards have highlighted the best and brightest of businesses in the borough. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate COOK Trading Ltd for winning the prestigious title of Swale Business of the Year. I would also like to extend my congratulations to all of tonight’s winners, as well as all the finalists. This was definitely the best year I’ve ever seen in terms of the quality of the applications we received, so making it through to the shortlist of 17 finalists really is an achievement in itself. Finally, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of this year’s sponsors, without whom there would be no Swale Business Awards.”

All in all, the 2016 Swale Business Awards were a roaring success and in total £1,413 was raised for the mayors chosen charities. Congratulations to all the winners and we hope to see you enter again next year.

The Principal Sponsors of the 2016 awards were Handelsbanken and Sears Business Centre. The 2016 awards were sponsored by Enterprise Centres, George Webb Finn, JH Property Management, Kent Science Park, The Kent Messenger Group, Macknade Fine Foods, Peel Ports, Swale Borough Council, Thomson Snell and Passmore, UHY Hacker Young, University of Greenwich, The BarnYard, Shepherd Neame and The Heritage.

If would like to get involved in organising the 2017 awards, please email sponsors@swalebusinessawards.co.uk or call Liz Jordan on 01795 475 363.

You can view pictures of the night's winners here. Alternatively, please view the full album on our Facebook page.