Caerphilly Business Forum Member Andy Mudie, Marketing Director of ventilation specialist Nuaire, explains how engaging with awards schemes can mean so much more than just a pat on the back for any business.
Nuaire has been based in Caerphilly since 1974 and, as a family owned business spanning three generations, is now a market leader in energy-efficient domestic and commercial ventilation solutions.
A recognised anchor company in Wales’ manufacturing sector with a turnover of £55 million, Nuaire takes great pride in employing over 450 local people and engagement with the local community has always been a priority for us as a company.
In contribution to this growth, Nuaire has continually been involved in award schemes on both a national and industry level over the years, and always found it beneficial as an activity in connecting with commercial partners.
Along with networking opportunities at awards events themselves, wider publicity surrounding such ceremonies has always been excellent for business.
Suppliers have often started to make contact as a direct result of reading about awards and this is particularly important to Nuaire, as we maintain sourcing our suppliers locally wherever possible.
So when the Caerphilly Business Forum (CBF) Awards opened last year they gave us an opportunity to become more deeply connected on an immediately local level too – something we hadn’t pursued before.
Any chance to promote yourself locally is great for any business and we were looking forward to putting the practices we have learned through years of engagement with other awards schemes into action through the CBF event, while our expectations on the night were definitely exceeded.
Nuaire was lucky enough to win not only the Business of the Year (over 25 employees) category, but also the Premier Award, which felt particularly special as it recognises the overall winner on the night and was a complete surprise to us.
Due to its locality, another element that really stood out was how personable the CBF event was and how much more tangible it was for employees.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that a company of our size was eligible to enter alongside smaller start-up companies and be recognised equally. This is hugely representative of the changing shape of Caerphilly county’s economy generally, which is continually and successfully growing.
Nuaire has seen a massive growth in product demand in recent years and is not alone in this, which is great news not only for us but the local jobs market too. Caerphilly as an area is also becoming increasingly entrepreneurial with many successful start-up businesses proving that all kinds of ideas can be turned into business, especially with the backing of hubs such as Welsh ICE.
Meanwhile awards ceremonies generally are a fantastic vehicle for not only businesses of all shapes and sizes with a common interest to connect, but also for other stakeholders such as local academic institutes.
Introducing a related category to the CBF awards incorporating academia could also therefore provide opportunities for young people to display their work and connect with employers before entering the jobs market. Equally, this would also provide our young people with something tangible when it comes to getting involved in doing business, in the same way it has for Nuaire.
So it may be that our involvement in the CBF awards changes next year, where we would look at potential sponsorship as oppose to entering. Either way, we would always look to maintain building new business contacts and relationships through awards schemes generally, and encourage others thinking about following suit to do the same.