A GROCERY delivery service based near Morpeth and a Ponteland resident have been honoured at a regional business awards for women.
Food Local Food, which runs out of the Old Kitchen in Bothal Castle, picked up the ‘Best New Business’ accolade at the Women Into the Network (WIN) North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Awards.
And Angela McLean, who has started five busin
esses in the last 20 years and now runs higher education enterprise consultancy Fast Forward Now in Kirkley Mill, received the ‘Inspirational Role Model’ title at the ceremony in Hilton NewcastleGateshead.
Judges praised the “impressive” and “innovative” Food Local Food, which is an online marketplace for selling produce grown, reared, produced and manufactured in the North East to residents and visitors.
It is run by Managing Director Alison Taylor and Creative Director Suzi Howey, with help from a small team of staff.
“This award is all about how great my team are, we have had a rollercoaster of a year with 200 percent growth from last year to this,” said Mrs Taylor.
“It’s great to be recognised like this. It means everything to me that Women Into the Network has singled us out and it adds pressure to make sure we keep giving the best service we can, improving what we do daily so our sales continue to grow through loyal customers who have the best shopping experience they can.”
The judges hailed Mrs McLean as a true inspiration to female entrepreneurs.
Her former children’s rainwear business Baggers brought her international acclaim and her consultancy to business schools, career services and enterprise departments within universities is gaining an excellent reputation.
Chair of the judging panel, previous North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year and SCM Pharma director Fiona Cruickshank, said: “Food Local Food’s achievements to date are impressive, taking on a huge market and targeting those in holiday cottages as well as locals. It’s a very IT savvy business, with good logistics and lean principles as well as good growth potential.”
“There’s no doubt that Angela is something of a serial entrepreneur, having set up, developed and sold on several award-winning manufacturing and service sector businesses over the last two decades,” she added.
“With such a lot of personal experience, she offers a unique take on self employment as a life choice and has now identified another opportunity in the higher education sector, including developing a highly successful Business Enterprise Programme at Newcastle University.”
