The Business Awards 2007 finalists - Internet and ICT Award
Apr 22 2008 By The Journal
DURHAM AND WEARSIDE
Winner: SDY Ltd t/a The Plasma Centre
An online home entertainment business The Plasma Centre was set up by Gary Bunt and fellow director Paul Skinner after their jobs were axed at the LG Phillips Washington factory when it moved its television parts manufacturing to Slovakia four years ago.
The Washington-based business was originally set up as a TV parts manufacturer after securing two Philips contracts that were too complex to move abroad. It is now a web-based TV and TV accessories seller, selling plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions as well as accessories such as brackets and television stands.
Despite the recent fall in demand for expensive household items, its annual sales have increased by £1m to £2m in the last year. The business aims to boost this figure to £4m once it has launched in Europe after completing a viability study of established markets such as France and Germany. It plans to do this by converting website plasmacentre.com into other languages.
Runners-up: Skills Connection Ltd, Houghton-le-Spring. talyabroad.com, Sunderland.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TEES VALLEY
Winner:
From a core Teesside market, it has expanded to trade UK-wide.
Its website – www.djanddiscostuff.com – has allowed the business to buy better from suppliers, be more competitive, double the size of its shop and become an e-business.
Established in 1981, it currently employs two staff, plus a trainee.
The website was originally launched at the beginning of 2006 after being given access to the Darlington Council D2E Grant, which subsidised the site. This grant focused on providing firms that would not normally have access to grant, the time and expertise required.
The company now offers full online trading and the site is easy to use, navigate and buy from.
Runners-up:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TYNESIDE AND NORTHUMBERLAND
Winner: Northumbria University
THE University beat stiff competition to win the Internet and ICT award by demonstrating an excellently designed website in terms of visual appearance, navigability and interactivity. It has also led the way in boosting the performance of its business by harnessing the power of web technology.
Northumbria’s website is one of its most powerful tools in terms of its business development with 95% of enquiries from potential students arriving via the web.
Since the website was rationalised and re-designed six years ago, overall traffic to the university’s website has grown by 600% – the site received 2.6m hits last October alone.
The largest Virtual Learning Environment in the UK is housed at Northumbria, allowing students to study online even when they are not on campus, and videos of graduation ceremonies are broadcast online so that friends and parents of international students can join in with celebrations even if they can’t travel to the UK.
Students can also pay their fees for study, accommodation and gym membership online, rather than queuing at payment offices. The online payment system proved so popular that it took £1.4m in its first three months.
Runners-up: Crafty Computer Paper. Medibroker.
