Inspiring young people honoured at Sub36 Awards

Thirteen of the county’s most influential young men and women in business have won prizes including specialist mentoring and access to growth funding and sales support at the Sub36 Awards 2020.

The winners ranged from apprentices to managing directors and from sectors including children’s education, digital design and business support. What they all had in common was an innovative and inspiring start to their young careers.

Each winner was hand-selected by a panel of judges brought together by the Sub36 Awards, organised by Lancashire Business View magazine.

Categories covered Commitment to Skills, Go Green, Leader, and Philip Heyworth, managing director of JD Engineering, won the Sub36 Hero Award.

Philip was selected for the special award for his efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, which included making ventilator parts and face covering fasteners free of charge for the NHS, and helping orchestrate a project which donated 24 tonnes of food to local community projects.

Awards organiser Richard Slater said: “Philip is an exceptional talent who stands out in a room crammed full of exceptional talent. He is a great ambassador of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, an innovative, exciting and dynamic business leader, and a true Lancashire humanitarian.”

The winners were then announced via a special online ceremony, which more than 250 people signed up to attend. The virtual event also featured inspiring speeches by Dave Fishwick, the Burnley entrepreneur who starred in his own award-winning TV show as he set up a community bank, and Imran Hakim, who conquered Dragons Den and went on to establish a UK-wide network of independent optical retail practices.

Dave talked about his journey from leaving school with no qualifications through to owning a successful international business portfolio, saying, “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.” Imran spoke of the importance of learning from more experienced leaders while lending a helping hand to those following in your footsteps.

Following the event, each winner will be encouraged to continue their impressive trajectory with a specialist package of support. They will benefit from one-to-one mentoring provided by the Northern Mentoring Programme and have access to growth funding from Rosebud and sales support through Sales Geek.

Richard Slater, publisher of Lancashire Business View, said: “Sub36 started life as a feature in the magazine and we had so many fantastic stories that it became obvious we needed to honour them properly.

“Since then Sub36 has grown to a programme of quarterly networking events and awards programme to celebrate the best of the best which has proved very popular.

“Not only do winners get a trophy to display proudly they also get access to our bespoke mentoring programme provided by our mentoring partner Northern Mentoring Programme which will support their growth and development.”

Headline sponsor of the awards is Positive Pennine, the mentoring partner is Northern Mentoring Programme and the funding partner is Rosebud. The awards are also sponsored by Bigtank Video Productions, Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub, PDS Engineering, Sales Geek, True Bearing Financial Planners and Two Zero.

Full details of the awards can be found at sub36.co.uk