Downing takes top gong at Daily Post business awards

Jun 29 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

• Click here to see pictures from the awards night

THE winner of the top accolade at this year’s Daily Post’s Regional Business Awards was Merseyside property developer George Downing.

Mr Downing was given the DLA Piper Business Person of the Year prize last night in recognition of the huge investment his company has put into Liverpool’s commercial office market in recent years.

His company, Downing Developments, is Liverpool city centre’s largest owner of commercial space. The business owns the Port of Liverpool building, one of the Three Graces at the Pier Head, the Capital, bought for £51m last year and which houses Royal & SunAlliance’s city centre offices, and the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce’s premises at No 1 Old Hall Street.

Mr Downing’s business, which started in student accommodation, has achieved rapid growth over the past 10 years to become one of the city’s biggest players in the property sector.

He was presented with his award by Philip Rooney, managing partner at DLA Piper’s Liverpool office, in front of 500 guests attending the prestigious black tie ceremony in St George’s Hall.

Mr Downing said: “I’m shocked and delighted to win this award. It means so much to me that I’ve received such an accolade in my home city.

“I feel that we have a tremendous momentum in Liverpool at the moment and we are building a city which is regaining its international reputation.

“Tonight demonstrates the different sectors of industry that are coming together to help model the city. It’s vital now that the private and public sector continue to support each other and concentrate on the positives.”

The winner of the KPMG Business of the Year category was one of Liverpool’s most iconic names – Royal Liver Assurance.

The judging panel said they were impressed by the way the life assurance group has transformed its financial performance in recent years.

The judges said Royal Liver is now an entrepreneurially-led business. Yet, despite going through huge change and modernisation, Royal Liver has held on to its founding principles at all times.

The runners-up in the category were Childwall-based television production group Lime Pictures and social housing subcontractor Warmer Heating.

The Liverpool John Moores University New Business of the Year was won by The Contact Company, a call centre firm set up in Birkenhead last year by former Arvato chief executive Hamid Asif. The judges were impressed by the degree of success already enjoyed by this start-up company, saying it has got off to a flying start, showing rapid growth.

The runners-up in the category were chewing gum removal firm Urban Revolution and nursery group It’s the Little Things.

The Business Liverpool Small Business of the Year Award was open to firms with less than 50 staff. It was won by Ventcroft, a Runcorn-based manufacturer that has delivered a sustained increase in turnover in the last two years and shown willingness to invest for the future.

The runners-up in the category were construction consultancy AA Projects and web design firm New Mind.

The Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank Medium Business of the Year Award was open to entries from businesses employing between 50 and 250 staff.

The winner was SOG, the Runcorn-based science business park owner.

The judges were impressed with the imaginative approach taken by SOG management to turn what were disused research laboratory facilities belonging to ICI into a thriving business by finding new tenants for them.

The runners-up in the category were St Helens Rugby League Football Club and Kirkby-based textile manufacturer Caldeira.

The University of Liverpool Corporate Social Responsibility Award was won by Royal Liver Assurance. Since its inception almost a century ago, the mutual has invested in the local community and has always encouraged staff to volunteer their time and expertise.

More recently, Royal Liver’s commitment to the local community has been demonstrated by creating a vegetable garden for the community in Old Swan and fundraising for a nursery in Toxteth.

The runners-up were health insurance group Medicash and The Contact Company.

The Mersey Partnership Investment of the Year Award was presented to Ford’s Halewood Operations, which has seen the start of Land Rover production this year.

The plant secured this major investment in the face of international competition.

Runners-up in the category were aerospace supply chain group Aerogistics and Ventcroft. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce International Trader of the Year Award was won by electrical insulation varnishes and resins firm AEV. More than half of its output is exported. The runners-up were healthcare products group A Algeo and Caldeira.

The NorthWest Regional Development Agency Science and Technology Business of the Year was IOTA NanoSolutions. This Merseybio-based company has applied ground-breaking solutions to numerous products across multiple industry sectors and established effective partnerships for development and dissemination of their products, including a joint venture deal with Unilever.

The runners-up were software developers MA Logistics and 3B View.

Daily Post editor Mark Thomas said: “It was a fantastic night. There was a great atmosphere, great competition between lots of fantastic entries.

“The whole event was testament to the growing sense of enterprise and confidence being engendered in Merseyside these days.”