Newcastle Building Society has been named Tyneside and Northumberland Company of the Year as the awards returned to a live event for the first time in two years.
The first heat of this year’s North East Business Awards were held at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead, with nearly 30 companies vying for prizes.
Newcastle Building Society took the top prize of Company of the Year, having earlier also won the apprenticeships, training and skills award.
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Andrew Haigh, chief executive of Newcastle Building Society, said: “It’s just so nice to see the 1,350 people who work at Newcastle Building Society recognised for all their hard work. They are so dedicated to making this such a special organisation for region.
“We said we wanted to come out of the pandemic a better organisation and thanks to their efforts, that’s what we’ve done. I’m absolutely delighted for everyone.”
Other winners included Muckle LLP, Rowen Homes, AIS Survivex and Sterling Pharma Solutions.
The event was introduced by Journal editor Graeme Whitfield, who said: “When I was looking through previous welcome speeches to these awards I was struck by how often we talked about resilience from the region’s business community: resilience after the Brexit vote, resilience during Covid and now resilience during the cost-of-living crisis that you don’t need me to tell you is also a cost-of-doing-business crisis.
“Perhaps I should stop making the point about resilience and just note that companies in this part of the world are good at dealing with whatever is thrown at them and getting on with things.
“We’re here tonight to celebrate great businesses and if you are one of the companies nominated for an award tonight, ‘great’ is exactly what you are. And given the difficulties we’re all facing right now, it’s important that we celebrate that fact.
“We should celebrate it together but I hope you all celebrate it with your teams, both tonight and when you go back to your offices and workplaces tomorrow.
“Earlier this month, The Journal celebrated its 190th anniversary and I’m proud to be the editor of a newspaper that has lasted nearly two centuries. We’re a very different publication to the one that first hit the streets in 1832 but our core mission is still the same: to keep the people of Newcastle and the North East informed and entertained, to champion the best interests of the region and to hold power to account.”
The awards also heard from Phil Welch, an Army officer who is part of the Force Atlantic 21 rowing challenge.
The winners were:
Innovation and Technology Award (sponsored by Accenture): AIS Survivex
Apprenticeships, Training and Skills Award: Newcastle Building Society
Heart of the Community Award: Muckle LLP
Manufacturing Award: Sterling Pharma Solutions
High Growth and Ambition Award (sponsored by Lexus Newcastle): GAP Group (North East)
Newcomer of the Year: Rowen Homes
Services Award: Reeves Independent Limited
Small Business Award (sponsored by Newcastle City Council): McGovern & Co
Company of the Year (powered by BusinessLive): Newcastle Building Society
