After attending the FSB Worldpay UK Business Awards 2016 in Westminster last night, we are proud to announce that Home Leisure Direct was the winner of the Online Business of the Year award!
We were really pleased to hear the great news in late January that we had reached the FSB awards finals for Online Business of the Year. But we were facing some tough competition from the other finalists, so we couldn’t wait for the awards ceremony to see who would walk away with the trophy
The FSB awards ceremony last night was held at the QE II Conference Centre, just across the road from the Palace of Westminster. After a champagne reception and a three course meal, celebrity speaker Tim Campbell MBE, well known as the first ever winner of The Apprentice, greeted the finalists with a speech before the winners of each category were announced.
The whole team were over-the-moon when they received the message that we had won the Online Business of the Year award and see that their consistent hard work has not gone unnoticed. When we found out that Home Leisure Direct had been shortlisted for Online Business of the Year this year, I told the FSB "We couldn't be happier to hear that we have made it through to the FSB awards finals.
Our team work hard throughout the year improving our website and processes to give our customers the best experience possible, not just within our sector, but anywhere. Being acknowledged at such a prestigious event as the FSB awards gives our team here at Home Leisure Direct a great thrill in knowing all of their hard work has been recognised." So you can imagine just how happy they were to hear we had won the award last night!
Andy and Michelle were interviewed after winning the award to speak about how happy they were to win the award and how important it is to support Britain’s small businesses with events such as the FSB Worldpay UK Business Awards. Our Managing Director, Andy Beresford has told the Federation of Small Businesses previously that “UK SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy. Tomorrow’s big businesses started somewhere; we need to support all new businesses and their success and growth.”
This is the second time we've won an FSB Business award, the first being our success at the FSB Worldpay UK Awards 2014, taking home the award for Best Online Business of the Year. That year was presented by Innocent Co-Founder and excellent public speaker Richard Reed.
Both times we've been to the FSB awards events its been amazing to meet and mingle with the other finalists who represent some of the best small businesses in the UK. We have been members of the Federation of Small Businesses for years as it is a leading organisation for actively supporting small businesses and providing excellent resources and advice for them. So to win an award from such a prestigious organisation, not once, but twice, is an amazing feat for us and has kept us driven to continue to thrive in our industry and grow.
We couldn’t have achieved so much if it wasn’t for every single team member in our incredible team in our offices and showrooms, along with our wonderful suppliers and service providers and of course our amazing customers who have been a pleasure to work with over the years, so we’d like to say a big thank you to each and every one of you!
We’re now looking forward to another great year of innovation and activity as we have some great plans for the coming months. So keep your eyes peeled and hopefully we’ll continue to win awards throughout this year.
If you’d like to see our previous awards, check out our Home Leisure Direct - Multiple Award Winners blog post that details them all.