Altrincham Market was among four local businesses to triumph at the Trafford Business Awards.
Altrincham businesses claimed four of the 10 categories on offer at the ceremony held at Lancashire Cricket Club and hosted by Granada Reports presenter Lucy Meacock.
Also recognised were The Cartwright Group, Home Instead Senior Care and Sim Trava Holdings Ltd.
Below: Home Instead Senior Care collected the community award
Nick and Jenny Johnson, the team behind the market, were handed the Judges’ Choice award, with the citation praising them for creating something “from the ground up” that was “at the heart of the community”.
Speaking to Altrincham Today, Nick said: “it’s a real privilege to win an award that you can’t enter, where it’s the judges choice to recognise the business and the place for what it’s achieved, and we are really grateful.
“The unalloyed joy of Altrincham Market and Market House is that they engage and involve so many people that make it special and so this recognition really belongs to everyone from our fiercely independent traders, to our employees and most of all our customers and our regulars.
Below: Altrincham’s Market House
“The amount of affection for what we are doing is clear, last week alone we fed and watered over 6,000 people, Tender Cow sold a third of a ton of beef and a quarter of a ton of chips from a 60 sq ft kitchen, the place now employs over 70 full-time staff and the combined turnover from Altrincham Market and Market House this year will be well over £4m! We don’t think that’s bad start and we’re still very ambitious and bristling with new ideas.”
He added: “Trafford Council deserve their own pat on the back for their foresight in backing us and belief that we would have a transformational impact on the perception of the town.”
Below: The Cartwright Group won the apprenticeships category
Taking home the Altrincham & Sale Chamber of Commerce Community Award was Home Instead Senior Care, with the judges praising it for having had a “dramatic impact” on many people.
Co-owner Lucy Gill told us: “We are totally over the moon, it was the one we really coveted.
“Community to us is a massive passion – we want to be able to look back at what we do and feel proud and this award was a coming together of all the work we have done over the past five years.”
Vehicle body and trailer manufacturers, The Cartwright Group, picked up the Trafford College Apprenticeship Award with the judges saying it stood out for the “depth and breadth of its commitment to apprenticeships”.
Below: The team from Sim Trava Holdings with their award
And the Metronet (UK) Business of the Year (over 50 employees) award went to Sim Trava Holdings Limited. The company, which has its head office in Altrincham and employs 280 people, operates a number of Costa Coffee and Pita Pit franchises around the area.
The judges said it “demonstrated great performance, commitment to employees and has fantastic growth potential”.
