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Greater Manchester Fastest 50 2015 is launched

THE pace setters of Greater Manchester's business world will be taking centre stage next year with the return of the Greater Manchester Fastest 50.

These awards, developed by the Manchester Evening News/Greater Manchester Business Week in association with law firm Ward Hadaway, highlight and celebrate the companies who are blazing a trail when it comes to growing their businesses.

The inaugural Greater Manchester Fastest 50 Awards were held in February this year at the Museum of Science and Industry and proved to be a resounding success.

The search has now started to find the 2015 winners as we compile the definitive list of the privately-owned profit-making businesses who have seen the biggest annual growth rate in their turnover.

This A to Z list will be published in Greater Manchester Business Week in the New Year. Then at the end of February, awards will then be handed out to the fastest growing small, medium-sized and large businesses at an awards ceremony.

One of those three winners will then receive the ultimate accolade of being crowned the region’s overall fastest growing business for 2015.

Law firm Ward Hadaway is again sponsoring and organising the Greater Manchester Fastest 50.

The firm has itself seen considerable and sustained growth in its Manchester operation since it opened in summer 2012, adding to offices in Leeds and Newcastle.

Jamie Martin at the inaugural Greater Manchester Fastest 50 Awards.

Jamie Martin at the inaugural Greater Manchester Fastest 50 Awards.

Jamie Martin, managing partner at Ward Hadaway, said: “We are delighted to be joining forces again with the Manchester Evening News/Greater Manchester Business Week to launch the Fastest 50 for 2015.

“This region has so much going for it in terms of ambitious, driven businesses striving for success, which is one of the many reasons why we opened our office in Manchester in 2012.

“The Greater Manchester Fastest 50 is a terrific way for us to highlight the fantastic work being done by companies right across the region in successfully growing their businesses, creating jobs and driving the economy forward.

“As the move towards greater powers for Greater Manchester and the growth of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ concept continues apace, the Fastest 50 is the ideal way to send out a clear message, not just to the region but to the country as a whole, that this is a great place to do business, to succeed and to thrive.”

Ward Hadaway, which also has offices in Newcastle and Leeds, has been running a similar awards scheme for companies in the North East of England every year since 1998 and for companies in Yorkshire since 2011.

Jamie Martin said: “As a Northern law firm for national business, we thought it was vital for us to ensure that the feel-good factor and sense of pride which the Fastest 50 generates was brought to Greater Manchester.

“Judging by the reaction to the inaugural awards, that certainly seems to have happened. The 2014 Greater Manchester Fastest 50 surpassed all our expectations and showed the tremendous variety and entrepreneurial spirit of the region’s businesses.

“We hope that the 2015 event builds further on this initial success and becomes a real fixture in the business calendar and a source of pride for all those involved.”

The Fastest 50 is compiled by independent economic researchers using publicly available data from Companies House.

The data is then verified before the definitive Fastest 50 list is published in Greater Manchester Business Week in the New Year.

Adam Jupp, head of business at the MEN, will introduce the Fastest 50 Awards ceremony in February 2015.

He said: “The reaction to the inaugural Fastest 50 Awards earlier this year demonstrated how the event has already caught the imagination of the region’s business community.

“It is an ideal platform to celebrate all that is best about the commercial world in Greater Manchester and about the fantastic companies which we have here.

“Because it is based on turnover and there are categories for different-sized businesses, companies of all shapes and sizes have a chance to shine if they are succeeding in growing their businesses.

“The winners of the inaugural awards will be a tough act to follow and it will be fascinating to see which companies and which sectors will be the front runners for 2015.”

Oliver Twinsafe, which makes specialist valves used in the oil and gas industry, won the overall fastest growing business and fastest growing large business awards in the 2014 Greater Manchester Fastest 50.

Contact centre technology company Noble Systems UK won the award for fastest growing medium-sized business while manufacturer Showers & Eyebaths Services Ltd was named the fastest growing small business.

Further details about the Greater Manchester Fastest 50 2015 will be revealed early in the New Year.

For more information about the Fastest 50 series, please click here.

Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.

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