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Made in the North West Awards: 2020 Winners

Manufacturers from across Greater Manchester have been recognised in Insider Media’s 2020 Made in the North West Awards, including several who have received GC Business Growth Hub support.

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The Made in the North West Awards showcase the best of the region’s manufacturing across a range of different award categories. Below are some of this year’s winners from Greater Manchester.

Food and drink

Manchester gin distillery Zymurgorium was named the winner in the Food and Drink category. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zymurgorium switched production to sanitising liquid for key workers, the first batch of which was donated to the city region’s fire and rescue stations.

Zymurgorium has benefitted from a range of fully-funded services through GC Business Growth Hub, including sales and marking advice, support on HR, finance and strategy, and resource efficiency.

Sustainability

The Sustainable/Ethical Manufacturer Award went to Crystal Doors, a Rochdale-based manufacturer of vinyl-wrapped doors and components. Crystal Doors has become widely recognised for its ambitious strategy to become carbon neutral by 2022, which has been supported for several years by GC Business Growth Hub’s Resource Efficiency service.

Innovation

The Manufacturing Innovation Award went to Bitrez, a manufacturer of specialist polymers and synthetic resins in Wigan. Bitrez has also previously won a Queen’s Award for Innovation for its product innovations.

Also shortlisted in the Innovation category was Bolton-based Handrail Creations, which has received expert support from both GC Business Growth Hub’s Manufacturing Service and the Made Smarter programme. Through Made Smarter, Handrail Creations invested in hand-held scanning software that is expected to boost the company’s processing speed by 25 per cent.

Export

Shortlised in the Export category was Reach and Rescue, a Wigan-based manufacturer of long-reach telescopic poles used in rescue missions. Reach and Rescue’s innovative product was previously crowned winner of GC Business Growth Hub’s Venturefest North West in 2018.

Manufacturer of the Year

The winner of the overall Manufacturer of the Year Award (under £25 million) was Wireless CCTV in Rochdale, a leading provider of redeployable CCTV, site security solutions and body-worn cameras.

A number of other firms that have received support from our Manufacturing Service were shortlisted in the Manufacturer of the Year category. These included Handrail Creations, metal casting firm Dean Group International, workwear manufacturer Tibard Group, safety technology firm Trolex, fire and security doorset provider Performance Doorset Solutions, and local distillery Manchester Gin.

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