Cleveland Containers has topped a record-breaking year to be named as Teesside Company of the Year at the third and final heat of the North East Business Awards.
The Stockton based family-firm, which supplies shipping containers and provides modification services, also supplies containers for a wide variety of projects and businesses, and since launching in 2011 it has seen turnover rocket from £1.1m to a record £60m this year.
In 2020 it invested £1.2m in a new headquarters and last year decided to launch a new division of the business, supplying other companies with site accommodations such as offices, canteens and toilet blocks.
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The firm, which delivers hundreds of containers every week and operates out of more than 15 depots across the nation, pipped razorblue, Great North Air Ambulance and Made For Trade to win company of the year, the last award to be presented at the black tie event held at Middlesbrough College.
Jonathan Bulmer, managing director of Cleveland Containers, said: “I think it’s all about the team. We’ve got a fantastic team and there’s some really exciting stuff that’s happening at the business going through at the moment too, that we’ll be revealing next week. We’ve gone from £1.1m turnover in our first year to a predicted £80m next year, and it’s all organic too.”
It was the first time in three years that the Teesside finalists were able to gather in person for the coveted event, after a two-year gap for the pandemic.
Other winners on the night included PD Ports, which won the Innovation & Technology Award, Intelect, winner of the Apprenticeships, Training & Skills Award, and Made for Trade, which took home two trophies, winning the High Growth & Ambition Award and the Manufacturing Award.
Graeme Whitfield, editor of The Journal and business and agenda editor for Reach North East, opened the event, which was sponsored by Middlesbrough College Group along with category sponsors Lexus, FW Capital and Tees Valley Business, in which he urged businesses to come together.
He said: “These are not easy times in which to do business, but that has probably been true for some time. The financial crash was followed by austerity, Brexit, Covid and now a cost-of-living crisis that is also a cost-of-doing-business crisis. At times like this, companies need to work together to look after each other and their teams, but I know in Teesside that you will do that. Despite everything that has been happening in recent years, there is a real excitement around Teesside right now and we need that to continue.
“During lockdown the Gazette celebrated its 150th anniversary while the Journal last month turned 190. Both papers, and our websites, have survived, I think, because we have never lost sight of our central missions to keep the people of the North East informed and entertained, to champion the best interests of the region and to hold power to account. These awards, now in their 20th year, are part of that mission to celebrate this part of the world.”
The event was hosted by TV presenter Kirsten O’Brien and heard from guest speaker Tracey Herrington of Thrive Teesside, the award-winning organisation campaigning for social justice.
The winners of last night’s awards will go head-to-head with their counterparts from the Tyneside and Northumberland heat, held last month, and the winners of the Durham, Sunderland and South Tyneside awards held two weeks ago, at the overall finals of the Business Awards in September.
Winners list in full
Apprenticeships, Training & Skills Award - Intelect
High Growth & Ambition Award - Made For Trade
Innovation & Technology Award - PD Ports
Heart of the Community Award - Perimenopause Support UK CIC
Manufacturing Award - Made For Trade
Newcomer of the Year - Dash Media Ltd
Services Award - Great North Air Ambulance Service
Small Business Award - Lucid Technology Solutions
Company of the Year - Cleveland Containers
