AXA - Be Life Confident

Tyrrells, the only small UK crisp maker to grow its own potatoes, controlling the whole process from seed to chip, goes forward to the grand final of the prestigious National Business Awards, dubbed by Gordon Brown as the 'Business Oscars', at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on 13 November.

The AXA Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award recognises businesses for their entrepreneurship and innovation and highlights the importance of management excellence in maintaining a successful business today and continuing to grow it in the future.
                                                           
John Anderson, the Midlands and East of England Regional Judge, said: "Although it was a hard decision with such strong competition from the region, we chose Tyrrells because it has proved itself once again to be an exceptional company. Although the business has continued to grow, it has retained the key ingredients that made it successful when it first won the award in 2006: innovation; focus on the customer; engagement of brand; and passion for the business.  It now goes onto compete against the other regional finalists in the National Final - we wish them all every success in the future."                         

The other finalists battling to win the title of AXA Small to Medium Business of the Year are:

• Point Source, Southampton (www.point-source.co.uk) - Manufacturers of laser solutions for precision instrumentation.
• Quartix, Newtown (www.quartix.net) - Producers of a vehicle tracking system to commercial fleet operators, and finalists for the second year running.
• Applied Language Solutions, Huddersfield (www.appliedlanguage.com) - Professional translation services covering the financial, medical, marketing or any other field.
• Valueworks, Wigan (www.valueworks.co.uk) - Provider of tailor-made supply chains that remove cost inefficiencies and controls purchasing behaviour across organisations.

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