Onyx wins North East Company of the Year
Apr 30 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal
A FAST-GROWING data security firm is the toast of the region’s business community after it was last night named North East Company of the Year 2009.
Middlesbrough-based Onyx took the top title in the prestigious nebusiness awards – the biggest and best competition for companies in the region.
It won cheers at the grand final of the awards, organised by The Journal and Evening Gazette in association with Business Link, which were attended by around 800 executives at Hardwick Hall near Sedgefield.
Onyx scooped the award ahead of two very worthy finalists at the culmination of an awards which had seen more than 300 entries from businesses across the region.
Wessington Cryogenics – the Houghton-le- Spring gas storage vessel company which has fought back from the brink of collapse five years ago to become a leader in its field – had been named Durham and Wearside Company of the Year.
And Prudhoe-based pharmaceuticals company The Specials Laboratory was named Tyneside and Northumberland Company of the Year, after a year of success following its takeover by Ireland’s United Drug. It now expects to see annual double digit revenue growth for the next five years.
The award is a strong start for a year in which Onyx plans to open its first international office in New York.
The company has spent the first months of 2010 integrating its recent series of acquisitions. It bought five companies in 18 months and now has offices in London and Scotland, as well as the North East, which are expected to help build business and double its workforce to 220 this year.
The business started life in 2000 when managing director Neil Stephenson and other company directors led a management buy-out from the company’s American owners, who were suffering as the dotcom bubble burst.
It has grown over the last two years from a regional IT company into a national firm as it built up a client base of firms of all sizes, all looking to outsource their data so their business is not affected if they lose large amounts of information held on computers.
The company’s success in the awards comes after it last year bought businesses including London-based Disaster Recovery Solutions, which runs 70 data recovery offices across the country and allowed Onyx to win more SME clients.
The company was just one of 13 which celebrated taking the top prize in their category at the black tie ceremony last night.
David Simms, managing director of ncjMedia, said the bumper entry to the awards was “a fantastic reaction to a tough economy and a tremendous tribute to the resilience and spirit of North East business”.
He added: “What the awards do, of course, is highlight that not everything is doom and gloom – far from it. The regional final represents business success at its best and is a great showcase for companies that have positive and inspiring stories to tell.
“We need to be reminded that there are sectors and there are businesses that have bucked the economic trend, and the nebusiness awards is a rightful celebration of excellence and performance.”
Guests were entertained with an amusing and revealing speech by Nick Hewer, best known as the right hand man of Sir Alan Sugar on The Apprentice.
