Partner Article

Top honours for Bacup family

A local family from Bacup in Lancashire had double cause for celebration last week after being recognised at a business awards ceremony.

Husband and wife, Julie and Matthew Ryder who run national workplace training and consultancy company, HearFirst were winners of the ‘Made in Rossendale’ award and also highly commended in the MicroBusiness category at the fifth annual Rossendale Business Awards.

But, it wasn’t just mum and dad who walked away with a top award - their fourteen year old daughter Annie was also highly commended in the Enterprising Young Person award.

The awards, which were presented at The Riverside, Whitworth last Thursday evening (November, 13), are organised by Valley at Work and celebrate the best Valley businesses at a glittering awards’ ceremony.

Over 75 local businesses were nominated this year, competing for twelve Rossendale Business Awards’ categories, giving the independent judges, and representatives from the awards’ sponsors, difficult decisions to make.

The Made in Rossendale award was presented to HearFirst for providing a service that, in the opinion of the judging panel, has the ‘wow’ factor. The company, which started trading in October 2002, has worked with over 200 clients delivering bespoke training such as disability equality & awareness, British Sign Language (BSL) and Mental Health First Aid to clients in the public, private and third sectors to ensure they comply with the Equality Act.

The award was sponsored by JJO plc - one of the largest manufacturers of kitchen, bedroom and bathroom furniture in the UK. The judging panel said they were very impressed with the calibre of HearFirst’s clients which include the House of Commons, BBC and Royal Mail.

Director and founder of HearFirst, Julie Ryder said: “We are delighted to win this award which further strengthens and demonstrates our commitment to delivering an excellent service. Our aim at HearFirst is to deliver training that will result in real changes being made for real people.

“Despite many training budgets being cut and staff having less time to attend training, organisations still have obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and recognise the importance of investing in staff training. It is not exactly a ‘sexy’ service but our tutors ensure that the courses are fun and meaningful and delivered in a way that will leave them feeling with a ‘wow’ factor that will encourage them to use what they have leant to make real changes within the workplace for the benefit of their staff and customers.”

Meanwhile, daughter Annie was highly commended in the Enterprising Young Person award for setting up a local enterprise by baking, decorating and selling celebration cakes.

Initially selling cakes to family and friends, Annie set up ‘Bake Me A Cake, Annie?’ on Facebook and quickly started selling to customers in Rossendale and further afield. She set up the business to earn extra pocket money and baking was a passion she always had from being a toddler.

Annie said, “It is rare to see young people baking but I am very proud of my cakes and feel that I represent young people in Bacup very well. It’s a traditional business but I use social media to market it in a modern way. Since setting up ‘Bake Me A Cake, Annie?’ it has given me an identity at school and throughout the community. This has boosted my confidence and made me want to achieve more.

“Despite being poorly for several months, I have kept a positive attitude and am now looking forward to expanding the business and being highly commended in these awards will help me to raise the profile of the business. The business has enabled me to become more independent and taught me how to manage money. I have learnt more about income and expenditure in a business and the importance of profit.”

HearFirst was also highly commended in the MicroBusiness category which recognises businesses with 0-4 employees that in the opinion of the judging panel is the most successful and sustainable Rossendale-based self-employed person or micro business this year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by HearFirst .