Hampshire wins big at The Business Magazine's Solent 250 Awards!

Four fantastic businesses of Hampshire took home awards at last night’s ceremony celebrating the Solent 250, a yearly listing of privately owned Solent businesses ranked by sales turnover.

The private dinner and awards ceremony were held at the Southampton Harbour Hotel & Spa last night and hosted guest speakers Mark McDonald, Head of Data Science and Analytics for HSBC Global Research and Roland Emmans, who heads up HSBC’s Technology Sector & Growth Lending Teams.

Their discussion on the future of AI in personal and commerical spaces inspired many questions on the ethical and practical applications in a superfast changing environment.

Spencer Wright, PVC Building Supplies, Darren Slater, RSM UK with Steve Davies and Jenny Fisher, PVC Building Supplies Credit: Black Ox Media

Congratulations to PVC Building Supplies for winning Entrepreneurial Business of the Year. The award was presented by Darren Slater, RSM UK Group, at the beginning of the night.

PVC Building Supplies have been supplying materials to plumbers since 1973. Their team of over 100 service-led individuals pride themselves on their reliablity and speed.

They provide this service to the entire south of England from our mega depots in Southampton and Tonbridge. Later this year they will open their third distribution depot near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.

Gary Orr, Abri and Alan Lindstrom, The Business Magazine with Professor Laura Constanzo, Southampton Business School Credit: Black Ox Media

Congratulations to Gary Orr, Group Chief Executive at Abri for winning CEO of the Year. The award was presented by Professor Laura Constanzo, University of Southampton Business School after the main course.

Abri are a Eastleigh-based, not for profit housing provider, whose mission is to ‘create thriving communities and empower lives’.

Before 2025, they plant to invest £15m in communities to increase employment, improve health and wellbeing and empower people to take the lead where they live. They work with partners to enhance social mobility and provide opportunities and resources in the community. For them this means building at least 12,500 new homes by 2030.

Russell Miller, Regional Managing Partner at Vail Williams LLP and Paul Clements with Tracy, Bradley and Graham Eyles, Apollo Motor Group Credit: Black Ox Media

Gary Orr was born in Northern Ireland and started his housing career in milk delivery at age 13 in a Belfast-based housing association. Abri is Gary’s fourth Chief Executive role in what has been a 25-year career to date. He is also member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Residential Property Forum alongside Chairing the Greener Futures Housing Partnership.

Congratulations to Apollo Motor Group for winning the Business Culture Award. The award was presented by Russell Miller, Regional Managing Partner at Vail Williams LLP after the main course.

Apollo Motor Group offer a comprehensive service for all major approved Insurance Companies across the South of England through their infrastructure in all areas across the South. They boast state of the art workshops, the latest repair technology and the highest levels of customer service.

Their staff are trained to the highest standards and most of the Apollo Motor Group team have achieved ATA Senior Accreditation.

George Weston, Associate Director of CMA Recruitment Group with Simon Escott, David Evans and Andrew Bowles of Portsmouth Aviation Credit: Black Ox Media

Congratulations to Portsmouth Aviation for winning Growth Story of the Year. The award was presented by George Weston, Associate Director of CMA Recruitment Group at the end of the night.

Portsmouth Aviation is a trusted engineering solutions provider and family-owned business. They started in 1929 as an air ferry innovator, evolving to aerospace manufacturers in the 1940’s, to the leading engineering experts they are today.

Portsmouth Aviation is partner to a diverse range of organisations and have completed programmes of work across varying industry sectors. A recent programme of work with the UK Ministry of Defence to clear the MK11 Depth Charge for Flight is among their recent successes.

Hannah Clipston, Partner at Urwin Mitchell and Will Crumbie, Kate Brown and Nick Stevenson at FatFace Credit: Black Ox Media

Congratulations to FatFace for winning Leadership Team of the Year. The award was presented by Hannah Clipston, Partner at Urwin Mitchell at the end of the night.

FatFace is a British lifestyle brand creating women’s, men’s, kids, footwear and accessories. FatFace is a multichannel retailer, with an international digital business as well as over 180 stores in the UK, and 20 stores in the US.

The business was founded in 1988, inspired by the name of the black mountain ski run in Val d’Isère, La Face in France.

They were then acquired, for £360 million, by private equity group Bridgepoint Capital in 2007. FatFace’s ownership then changed hands from its majority shareholder, Bridgepoint, to the group’s lenders through its newly formed parent company on 2020.

Richard Thompson, Managing Director at Black Ox Media, said: “The night was a huge success, and our Hampshire winners are a shining example of the talent and leadership in the area.

Richard Thompson, Managing Director, Black Ox Media Credit: Black Ox Media

“Our judging panel were impressed by both the ongoing growth and potential displayed and next year will be very exciting.”

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Hampshire Biz News would like to add our thanks to The Business Magazine‘s sponsors – HSBC UK, Irwin Mitchell, RSM UK, CMA Recruitment Group, Vail Williams and Southampton University Business School.

Fancy being in line for an award?

The Business Magazine’s South Coast Tech Awards are now open for nominations.

More details can be found by clicking here.