Red Rose Awards celebrates best of Lancashire

Lancashire’s most ambitious and exciting companies collected trophies at the 12th annual Red Rose Awards, cheered on by an audience of more than 1,000.

The awards, the county’s biggest business celebration, were hosted at Winter Gardens Blackpool, kicking off with a drinks reception in its brand new £30m conference and events space.

The big winner on the night was Colne-based ELE Advanced Technology, winning three awards. The company, which produces high-performance, safety-critical components for the aerospace and power generation sectors, secured the Innovation Award, Made in Lancashire Award and Scale-Up Award after increasing its workforce by 25 per cent over the last two years.

Blackburn-based Serconnect, which designs, builds, installs and maintains electrical infrastructure, doubled up and won both the New Business Award and Small Business Award.

Meanwhile, Scope Fire & Security, which designs, installs and maintains fire safety and security systems, won the very special Lancashire Business View Award. Incorporated in 2019, Scope has already grown to a team of 13 and has won more than 200 maintenance contracts.

The event was held on June 9 rather than its usual date in March, reflecting a Red Rose Awards calendar disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, though it featured all the hallmarks that have made it so popular throughout the Lancashire business community: the best in red rose county food, drink, music and entertainment.

The evening drew to a close at an afterparty featuring a midnight feast and fun activities orchestrated by Preston’s The Fun Experts.

Richard Slater, organiser of the Red Rose Awards, said: “It has been another fantastic night celebrating a host of incredible businesses. Not just the winners, but every company that made the shortlist was worthy of recognition from their peers.

There was no shortage of good stories to tell. In fact, the adversity that many faced through the pandemic makes these success stories all the more impressive. A huge congratulations to everybody nominated, and especially those who triumphed!”