Oxford Metro Bank which sponsored the SME of the Year category at the recent Oxfordshire Business Awards congratulated this year’s finalists Thompson & Terry Recruitment, NewGround Coffee and the winner – High Spec Composites.
For 28 years, the Oxfordshire Business Awards (OXBA) have been recognising, rewarding, promoting and celebrating the excellence of Oxfordshire-based companies. The OXBA are firmly established as a benchmark for excellence in Oxfordshire’s competitive business environment.
Finalist Thompson & Terry Recruitment is an independent recruitment agency based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire which mainly recruits candidates for office, admin, marketing, sales and customers service jobs both locally and nationally.
Finalist NewGround not only sources ethically high-grade coffee, carefully selected from small-scale farms around the world, but also roasts the beans at its state-of-the-art facilities The company believes coffee can go beyond the cup and can be used as a catalyst for change by creating work and training opportunities for ex-offenders across the UK, giving some of the most overlooked people in society a new beginning.
The winner High Spec is a leading manufacturer of aluminium tooling and high-specification carbon fibre components, supplying to a range of industries worldwide, specialising in Formula One and bespoke projects. The company began in 2010 as a husband and wife working from their kitchen table and has developed into a highly-skilled team working from three units, with specialist machinery, primely located within Motorsport Valley. One of the many things that impressed the judges was its delivery of a full carbon fibre wheelchair project which was highly commended and changed the lives of users with spinal injuries (adopted by celebrities such as Sophie Morgan and showcased on BBC News); High Spec is also into its third year of development for an innovative water sports project which is due to go to market in the coming months with the potential to change the accessibility of the sport across the globe. High Spec was a double winner on the night.
“We work with over 1,700 Oxfordshire businesses and it was outstanding to meet this year’s finalists,” explains Oxford Metro Bank Area Director, Heather Wood. “SMEs are the lifeblood of the British economy and nowhere is this better showcased than in the diverse range of successful activities undertaken from this year’s finalists. Huge congratulations to each of them and double congratulations to High Spec.”
Metro Bank’s Oxford store is located at 4-5, Queen St, Oxford OX1 1EJ. The store is open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5pm.