Pictured: Imagematch MD, Mark Gibson (right) being presented
with the Social Enterprise of the Year award by Tim Duffield,
regional director, business banking, Nat West
A Shropshire business established 18 months ago to help
long-term unemployed people back into work has won UK Social
Enterprise of the Year at a prestigious awards ceremony in
London.
Shrewsbury based Imagematch Social Enterprise CIC walked away
with the award at the recent Startups Awards 2011. Organised by
Startups.co.uk the annual awards are sponsored by Nat West and this
year took place at Kensington Roof Gardens.
Three finalists were nominated for each of the 13 categories,
with the eventual winners of each category selected by a panel
consisting of some of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs,
including Joe Cohen, founder of Seatwave, Mitesh Soma, founder of
Chemist Direct, Rosemary Forsyth, founder of the Forsyth Group, and
Lara Morgan, founder of the Pacific Direct Group. Judging criteria
was based on sales volume, visionary leadership and social and
community responsibility.
Mark Gibson, director at Imagematch, which also received a
commendation at the Morgan Foundation Entrepreneur Awards in
October, said: "We were up against some inspirational people at the
ceremony who had backing from the likes of Dragons' Den's Deborah
Meaden, so to win this award is fantastic. It represents the hard
work my team have put in this year. We are rigorous and
comprehensive in our employability assessments and always aim to
provide good quality candidates for potential employers. However,
while we are very pleased to win an award, 2012 will bring further
challenges. There are now one million unemployed young people in
the UK and through the Work Programme and Jobs Growth Wales we will
strive to find opportunities for those of them in the region to get
back into work."
Organisers were impressed with the strong and diverse selection
of finalists. Steph Welstead, editor of Startups.co.uk, said: "We
were blown away by the standard of entries to this year's Startups
Awards. All of the businesses who made it to the 2011 final have
shown innovation, guts and determination and the success they have
achieved against the backdrop of the economic downturn is a true
testament to the strength of UK entrepreneurship.
"Competition was fierce but the judges felt that each one of our
winners had demonstrated sheer brilliance. Their stories will
provide much inspiration both to people who are looking to start a
business and to those who have already taken the plunge. We would
like to congratulate all of this year's winners and look forward to
reporting on their continued growth and success in the years to
come."