Local businesses were honoured at this year's Adur & Worthing Business Awards ceremony, which took place on Friday 13th November 2015 at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing.

Nick Wallis from The One Show hosted the prestigious evening for over 300 business representatives, showcasing the wealth of local business talent across Adur and Worthing.

We would like to thank all the businesses who took part in this year’s awards and to congratulate the winners and highly commended businesses listed below:

• Small Business: (up to 9 employees)
  Sponsored by Adur & Worthing Partnership
  Winner: Warne Projects Ltd
  Highly Commended: Jelly Digital Marketing

• Medium Business: (10 to 49 employees)
  Sponsored by Wannops LLP
  Winner: Pixel by Pixel
  Highly Commended: Piglets Pantry

• Business Personality:
  Sponsored by The Martlet Partnership LLP
  Winner: Andy Sparsis (Proto Restaurant Group)
  Highly Commended: Jonathan Nulty (Vice Puddings)

• Lifetime Achievement:
  Headline Sponsor: Sponsored by JSPC Computer Services Ltd
  Winner: Martin Godsmark (Carpenter Box)

• Manufacturing & Construction:
  Sponsored by Carpenter Box
  Winner: Seevent Plastics Ltd
  Highly Commended: Tenkay Electronics Ltd

• Young Achiever:
  Sponsored by Northbrook College
  Winner: Rachel Blair (WCHP)
  Highly Commended: Charlie Waring (Assystem UK Limited)
  Highly Commended: Charlotte Murray (Seagull Travel)

• Start-Up Business:
  Sponsored by Adur & Worthing Council
  Winner: World of Benches
  Highly Commended: Mad Hatters Tea Parlour
  Highly Commended: The Beauty Island Sanctuary

• Customer Service:
  Sponsored by Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce
  Winner: Seagull Travel
  Highly Commended: Spicer International
  Highly Commended: Sparkle Spa

• Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure:
  Sponsored by VIP Venues by Ken Marche
  Winner: Worthing Ice Rink

• Outstanding Contribution to the Community:
  Sponsored by Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd
  Winner: Kingsley Roofing Ltd

• Large Business: (50+ employees)
  Sponsored by Worthing Pier Southern Pavilion
  Winner: Shoreham Vehicles Auction
  Highly Commended: Ricardo Plc

• Innovation:
  Sponsored by Network Fontwell Business Club
  Winner: ETI Ltd

• Training & Development:
  Winner: Richard John Academy

• Green Business
  Sponsored by The Martlet Partnership LLP
  Winner: Red Inc

• Retailer:
  Headline Sponsor - Sponsored by JSPC Computer Services Ltd
  Winner: Mocha Furniture

• Place to Eat and or Drink:
  Sponsored by Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce
  Winner: Food (Proto Restaurant Group)
  Highly Commended: Efes Restaurant

• Readers Choice:
  Sponsored by Worthing Herald
  Winner: Park View Acupuncture & Chiropractic Clinic

• Overall Business of the Year:
  Sponsored by Spofforths
  Winner: Shoreham Vehicle Auctions

For more details about the awards, please see:

Adur and Worthing Business Awards on the JP South Events website

http://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/adur-and-worthing-business-awards/

A £7m-turnover Brighton business, which started life as a one-man-band on eBay and now operates an online platform for trading high-end cameras and lenses, has embarked on a funding round as it gears up to open an office in New York.

Mpb.com, founded ten years ago by "maths geek" Matt Barker, is seeking to raise £500,000 to help it maintain its impressive growth rate, which has seen it feature in the national Sunday Times Tech Track 100 list in 2015.

The company is offering investors 4.76 per cent of its equity on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in return for the cash. The funding round is the first time it has sought external equity investment.

"We have had an amazing journey to date with incredible support from Barclays Bank to assist with working capital as we have expanded our UK market share," Mpb.com said in its funding pitch.

"We are raising growth capital now so that we can really open the taps on what we do for the first time, with increased marketing in the UK and expansion geographically into the USA, as well as launching across key EU countries."

Mpb.com employs a team of 27 quoting for £16m worth of photo and video products annually through a sophisticated custom-designed technology platform.

Following its success in the UK, the business is now hoping to replicate its model in Europe and the US. It has signed a lease for 5,000 sq ft of space in Manhattan with a launch pencilled in for January 2016. A soft BETA launch has also taken place in Germany.

Mpb.com has 24 days to raise the cash it requires for the Crowdcube pitch to be successful.

Don’t ignore your own policies: a college lecturer unfairly dismissed from her job has received a “substantial” undisclosed payout. The judgement stated: “It seemed to the claimant and to us that the respondent (college) had decided to resolve the difficult situation in which it found itself by dismissing the claimant.” The college had ignored its own sickness policy…read more.

How to handle reluctant witnesses in investigations: if an employer initiates an investigation, witnesses to the matter being investigated will usually be asked to provide a witness statement. Witnesses can be reluctant to discuss the matter because they are concerned that giving information may cause them problems at work or somehow implicate them in the matter...read more.  

Head of HR justifies alleged racism and homophobia as 'just banter': workers at a factory made racist and homophobic comments, and joked about paedophiles, an employment tribunal has heard. Head of human resources at the factory said it was "banter" but "nothing malicious"...read more.

The AMEX Stadium in Brighton was buzzing with excitement recently as more than 300 visitors attended the BITE 2015 event hosted by Worthing and Gatwick-based award winning chartered accountants and business advisers, Carpenter Box.

With support from online accounting software company Xero, attendees at the Business/Innovation/Technology/Efficiency event were treated to valuable insights into how working in the cloud and cloud technology can and is transforming business efficiency and financial performance. The event combined a look at the cloud with two inspirational sessions on marketing innovation from keynote speaker Susannah Schofield, Head of New Business at Royal Mail.

Xero keynote speakers Gary Turner, Managing Director of Xero UK and Phil Beavan, Senior Account Manager, made sure that attendees all left with the clear message that the speed of technological change is phenomenal, and it’s the early adopters of cloud-based systems who will gain a competitive advantage in the long term.

Visitors also had the opportunity to view exhibition stands featuring strategic partners of Carpenter Box, ranging from cloud software companies, to banks, solicitors, IT and marketing companies. Informative breakout sessions were also held during the day which provided a deeper insight into specific topics with guests having the opportunity to network throughout the day.

Nathan Keeley, Partner at Carpenter Box and the driving force behind BITE2015, commented: “I’m really pleased with the delivery of BITE. The keynote speakers were all first class and feedback has been really positive. Attendance was very good and the exhibitors took away more than 300 leads between them – so, I couldn’t have asked for more! I’m sure a number of strong strategic partnerships will result from the day”.

Carpenter Box Partner Chris Coopey, who compered the event, added: "There was a genuine feeling of positivity in the room during the whole of the event. The keynote speakers were excellent and the audience certainly went away informed about how the cloud can help them to be more efficient and enthused about taking their businesses forward, which is what we wanted to achieve.”         

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A new challenge in a new office…a perfect combination that persuaded Melissa Hardwick to join the award winning Carpenter Box team of business advisers and accountants in Gatwick.

Melissa has taken up the post of Senior Manager within the Audit & Assurance team at the firm’s recently-opened office covering Gatwick. Melissa brings considerable local knowledge to this new role, having worked for Richard Place Dobson in Crawley for 13 years.

“I am thrilled to be joining Carpenter Box at the start of a very exciting period of development for the practice,” says Melissa. “All through my career, I have sought new challenges whether in professional development or tackling personal goals such as completing the Brighton marathon so when the opportunity came to join a highly-regarded firm in an area that I know very well, I was very keen to get involved and help them to get their client focussed message across.”

As a senior manager, Melissa will be responsible for providing audit-related services to her own portfolio of clients, including a number operating in manufacturing, which is a strong growth sector for the firm.

Says Robert Dowling, the Carpenter Box Partner heading the growing Gatwick team: “In just a few short months, the people within our new office have made a positive impact to the local business community. As a consequence, we are already seeing an increasing demand for our services. Having people such as Melissa on board, with her personality, technical knowledge and local links should help us attract ever more clients to our business.” 

Adur and Worthing Councils issue an invitation to tender for a Voluntary and Community Sector Infrastructure Support Service.

Adur and Worthing Councils currently grant fund two local Councils for Voluntary Services and going forward, the Councils are seeking to commission a new single service.  The main function of this new commissioning will be to develop, enable, promote and support Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations and the wider third sector across both Adur and Worthing.

The Contract will be for a period of two years with, subject to funding, a 1 year extension. The budget for this contract, including the 1 year extension, is in the region of £230,000 and as such an EU Compliant Tender Process is being conducted. Suitably qualified providers will be able to express their interest and download tender documents from the Council's’ EProcurement Portal from the 2nd November.

Leader Worthing Borough Council, Councillor Daniel Humphreys adds “It is our duty to local communities and residents that public money is spent in a fair, transparent and appropriate way.  It is also vital that contracts are given to organisations that best fit the skills, knowledge and experience required to deliver this service.  The Councils are indebted to the hard work of Voluntary Action Worthing  have provided for the past few years and both have been actively encouraged to take part in this process.”

Leader Adur District Council, Councillor Neil Parkin says “Adur & Worthing Council working together has achieved significant benefits, including savings of around £13 million.  This saving led to essential services - like the CVS role - being protected. Getting the best service is absolutely at the forefront of this process.  I do not foresee that changing the way the funding is allocated will be to the detriment of the local areas, I believe that it can only strengthen it.”

Providers wishing to tender must register at https://in-tendhost.co.uk/adur-worthing/aspx/

Deadline for submitting tenders is Friday 4th December 2015, at 3pm. with a view for contract commencement April 2016.

For further information please contact Susannah Caws, Senior Procurement & Contracts Officer, on 01903 221162 or or email susannah.caws@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Would you support a small rise in Council Tax to protect the frontline services delivered by Adur & Worthing Councils?  Or would you prefer tax levels to be frozen for another year, potentially resulting in a reduction to some Council run services?  

With the opening of the annual Council Tax survey, this is your chance to tell Adur & Worthing Councils what you think as they work towards becoming fully self funded by 2020.

Paul Brewer, Director for Digital and Resources at Adur & Worthing Councils, says:

“It’s vital to hear the community’s views - Council Tax setting is one of the most important things that we can do to balance the costs of the services we deliver while keeping our proportion of the whole Council Tax bill as low as possible.

“All of the responses will be reported to the Full Council meeting for both Adur District and Worthing Borough Councils in December, informing the debates which will be held in both chambers.”

The survey can be completed online - http://engage.adur-worthing.gov.uk - and paper copies can also be collected from the Adur Civic Centre, Shoreham as well as the Town Hall and Portland House in Worthing.

Responses to the survey are being invited until midnight on Sunday 15th November when the survey will close and the results collated ready for presentation to the Councils’ Joint Strategic Committee on 1st December.

For nearly sixty years THE ROTARY CLUB OF WORTHING have displayed a 30 foot Christmas Tree in our town. The tree will be erected at the Band Stand Montague Place formerly known as “Holders Corner” which promotes the festive atmosphere and goodwill of the Christmas season. Members of the club hold collections here in the weeks up to Christmas which, together with sponsorship and donations, last year raised over £7000. This money was used to help the less fortunate in the community.

To enable us to continue our charitable work into 2016 and beyond, we invite you to become a sponsor of our Appeal. With their permission, the name of each sponsor will be displayed at the Tree during the 3 weeks of December.

The Appeal will be opened by the Mayor of Worthing Cllr. Michael Donin, accompanied by the Town Crier Bob Smytherman, at 10.30am on Thursday 3rd December.

We will have in attendance a choir and other entertainment on the day.

If you are able to support our Appeal, or need further information about it or the Rotary Club, please contact Marlene Butler marlenebutler22@gmail.com 07715720363. Any cheque for a donation or sponsorship should be made out to Rotary Club of Worthing Christmas Appeal and sent to Marlene Butler c/oThe Chatsworth Hotel , The Steyne, Worthing.BN11 3DU.