Knutsford-based The New World Trading Company won the Mid-Sized Company (Turnover £25m-£50m) award after competing against names including Prepaid Financial Services, Fullfield Group and A.J Power

Created by Real Business and backed by the CBI, the Amazon Growing Business Awards are the most established and respected national recognition programme for SMEs and entrepreneurial success, with previous VIP guests including Bill Gates, Gordon Brown and Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The event was hosted by Rob Beckett, stand-up comedian and regular on television panel shows, ‘8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’ and ‘Mock the Week’.

The 2016 event, held at The Brewery in London, received nominations from over 500 SMEs from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Speaking after picking up the award, CEO Chris Hill, said: “I’m delighted to be bringing our Amazon Growing Business Award back to Cheshire for the New World Trading Company. We’ve had an excellent year, opening our 16th location having only had three sites in 2013 and we plan to expand further in 2017 with at least six new sites. To be recognised for our work by Amazon, the CBI and Real Business is testament to all the hard work by so many people to make sure The New World Trading Company is a success. We were up against some great companies, but to come out on top is a fantastic achievement.”

“We would like to offer our congratulations to all the winners and businesses highly commended last night,” said Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager, Amazon. “Small businesses are the backbone of Britain, and so it’s immensely inspiring to hear such a number of success stories, showing that creative ideas and relentless drive is found around the country.”

Speaking in support of the Amazon Growing Business Awards, Tom Thackray, CBI Director of Innovation, added:

“The CBI is delighted to support the Amazon Growing Business Awards, championing the vibrant network of SMEs as they undergo their scale-up journey. We wish all those who have taken part the greatest of success for the years ahead.”

Hunter Ruthven, Editor of Real Business said: “This year’s winning and highly commended businesses deserve huge recognition for their success in seeing off a record level of competition across every award category. On behalf of everyone at Real Business, we would like to thank all those who entered this year’s Amazon Growing Business Awards and we look forward to hearing even more inspiring stories in next year’s entries.”

Since its launch in 1999, the awards have celebrated exceptional growing businesses with past winners including innocent Drinks, Betfair, Lovefilm and Fever-Tree.