Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards 2010: Business of the Year nominees (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards 2010: Business of the Year nominees

3:52pm Thursday 11th November 2010 in Business By Chris Hopper, Reporter

THE nominees for Business Of The Year in the Lancashire Telegraph Business Awards are ACDC Lighting Systems, Euro Garages and Accrol Papers.

ACCROL PAPERS LIMITED

IT has been another busy year for Accrol, the Blackburn firm that is also one of the country’s leading independent makers of toilet paper.

While most manufacturing firms had their margins squeezed or fell by the wayside Accrol spent the recession notching up exponential growth and rapid expansion.

So a company that just two years ago recorded sales of £18.3million with a workforce of 50 now has more than 100 staff and is expected to top £50million turnover by next year.

And the firm, which was founded in Accrington in 1993, is also undergoing extensive expansion at its site.

Managing director Majid Hussain, whose family own the company, hopes £5million investment in new machinery will fuel further rapid growth, pushing turnover to £100million by 2013.

He said: “The recession has probably helped us out. People have moved away from branded products like Andrex and Double Velvet and once they have tried ours, they have found that the difference in quality certainly does not merit the difference in cost.”

Despite that, Mr Hussain is confident Accrol is well-placed if customers want top-quality tissue once they have more money in their pockets.

Part of the investment will go towards machinery that makes softer toilet roll, ensuring consumers can buy luxurious products from the likes of B&M Bargains and Poundland, both retailers that Accrol supplies.

ACDC LIGHTING SYSTEMS

IT was founded following an appearance on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World more than 30 years ago, but the most exciting chapters in ACDC’s history have been written in recent times.

The Barrowford high-tech lighting firm was owned by Dutch technology giant Philips for three years until 2004, when a management buy-out took it back into Lancastrian hands.

Since then, ACDC has gone from strength to strength, increasing turnover, with sales set to top £12million by the time 2010’s accounts are finalised. Meanwhile, the firm has one of East Lancashire’s most impressive footholds in the export market, raking in 70 per cent of its sales from 42 overseas countries.

Chief executive Gareth Frankland said: “We are one of the fastest-growing companies in East Lancashire, and we continued to develop and recruit new staff throughout the whole of last year.

“Our philosophy is to challenge and push the boundaries of design and innovation, while continuing to excel on a creative and performance level.”

Even by ACDC’s standards, 2010 has been a busy year.

Bosses have begun using a crack team of distributors charged with spotting contract opportunities. And the ACDC Experience, a fully-refurbished double-decker bus replete with high-tech gadgetry, has pulled in £370,000 worth of business.

EURO GARAGES

EURO Garages is a company that makes business look very easy – adding £43million to its turnover in the past year alone.

But the petrol station operator’s model is far from simplistic, targeting a notoriously fragmented sector and reaping the rewards.

Since being founded in 2001 by the Issa family, Euro Garages has built up a portfolio of more than 80 filling stations, mostly across the North West but also in the Midlands and the North East.

However, another busy year has seen bosses plot a push into the lucrative South East and acquire the Bolton West services on the M61.

Director Mohsin Issa said: “Our heartland area is the North West but we are certainly looking at the South East. We would look to buy a portfolio of sites and build it up that way. ”

The hectic 12 months has also seen it continue with partnerships with big names like Greggs, Subway and Burger King, putting their outlets on Euro Garages forecourts.

The firm also joined forces with US coffee chain giant Starbucks, which has resulted in several ‘drive-through’ stores opening across the UK, including one in Haslingden Road, Blackburn. That is also the location of Euro Garages’ new head office, due to open in early 2011.

Despite a turnover destined to pass £300million next year, Mr Issa believes the market is far from saturated and growth will continue to be rapid.