Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards 2008

While the pub industry may appear to be going through a rough time coping with anti-smoking attitudes, drink-drive laws and binge drinking stories, the Marlow-based Barracuda Group seems to have found a successful path through the maze. It has become the fastest-growing national managed pub company in the UK – and now has another accolade to add to its CV after claiming the Business of the Year title at the Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards.

Since being formed in 2000 by a team of investors led by chief executive Mark McQuater, Barracuda has opened some 30 new sites every year and now employs 3,900 people with an annual turnover of more than £100m. It now operates nearly 200 pubs and bars under the four principal brands of Smith & Jones, Varsity, Barracuda Bar and Juniper; these include the Hook & Tackle and Varsity in Reading, the Crown at Egham, Priory at Banbury and Wey Bridge at Alton.

All the winners: Seven successful companies join shadow chancellor George Osborne on stage for the 2006 Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards.

The Young Entrepreneur of the Year title went to Christina Domecq co-founder and chief executive of SpinVox, the Maidenhead voice messaging expert.

SpinVox was launched in 2003 after Domecq identified a need to simplify the process of accessing multiple voicemails and turned this idea into the first company in the world to offer voice-to-text capabilities. Using its patented technology, the company has shown rapid growth and is changing the way in which people communicate.

Game Group, winners of the Business of the Year title two years ago, was presented with the Outstanding Employer of Choice award this time. The Basingstoke-based company has become Europe's leading specialist retailer of computer software and video games, operating from over 700 stores around the UK, Europe and even Australia. Its aim is to be “the destination of choice” for every consumer.

The Small Business award went to Hardide Coatings, the Bicester provider of ultra-hard tungsten carbide coatings. Its unique and patented coatings combine toughness, low friction and chemical resistance for use on components made from steel, alloys and other materials and are revolutionising the way that tools and parts perform under the harshest conditions – proved daily by leading oil and gas, aerospace, valve, pump and high-end engineering companies.

A new award for the region’s top Business Management Team went to Leasedrive Group. The Wokingham company operates through two subsidiaries -- Leasedrive which provides Contract Hire, Leasing, Employee Car Ownership Schemes and Fleet Management services to the large fleet operators, and Countrywide Vehicle Management which provides short and medium-term vehicle rentals to the smaller fleet operator.

Centennial Software, which started life in a Hungerford bedroom, went home with the inaugural Technology Company award. It is now a world-leading developer of asset management and security software solutions.

Another new award, for Innovation, went to Re-new Surface Systems, the Slough company (also known as Re-new Glass) that claims to be saving the construction industry, retailers and cruise ship owners thousands of pounds with its technology that removes all types of surface damage, including graffiti and corrosion.

Business of the Year (sponsored by Pitmans)
1.Barracuda Group (Marlow)
2.Connells (Leighton Buzzard)
3 SDL (Maidenhead)
Highly Commended: DriveTech UK (Crowthorne), HIFX (Windsor) and Rollover (Slough).

Small Business Award (sponsored by Goss & Co)
1. Hardide Coatings (Bicester)
2. Q-Tass (Oxford)
3 Atlantis Property Services (Reading)
Highly Commended: Connect Spot ((Aldermaston), Meeting Zone (Wallingford) and Mix Cocktail Bars (Hartley Wintney)

Innovation Award (sponsored by Slough Trading Estate)
1 Re-New Surface Systems (Slough)
2. Owen Mumford (Woodstock)
3. Rollover (Slough)
Highly Commended: AppSwing (Reading), Baxa UK (Bracknell) and Imagine Homes (Farnborough).

Young Entrepreneur Award (sponsored by Millgate Homes)
1. Christina Domecq of SpinVox (Maidenhead).
2. Vicky Jewson of Jewson Film Productions ((Abingdon)
3. James Roberts of Peros (High Wycombe) and Liz Jackson of Great Guns Marketing (Basingstoke).
Highly Commended: David Jenkins of Wave Advertising (Reading) and Spencer Gallagher of Bluhalo (Fleet).

Tech Co Award (sponsored by BDO Stoy Hayward)
1 Centennial Software (Swindon)
2 Westcoast (Theale)
3 Axion Systems (Reading)
Highly Commended: Snowdrop Systems (Witney), Bluhalo (Fleet) and Meeting Zone (Wallingford).

Employer of Choice Award (sponsored by Mandeville Recruitment)
Outstanding Employer of Choice: Game Group (Basingstoke).
Employer of Choice: Adler Manufacturing (Slough), HIFX (Windsor), Intercall Europe (Bracknell), Rank Group Gaming Division (Maidenhead) and Rollover (Slough).

Business Management Team Award (sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland)
1 Leasedrive (Wokingham)
2 Vislink (Hungerford)
3 Lansdowne Chemicals (Carterton)
Highly Commended: Boyes Turner (Reading), Markwins (Basingstoke) and Rollover (Slough).