East Lancashire entrepreneurs up there with Red
or Dead’s Wayne Hemingway at Regional Awards Night!
Award winners with Radio Lancashire's Phil Trow © Andy Ford
Budding creative entrepreneurs from East Lancashire scooped trophies alongside nationally acclaimed Wayne Hemingway at the CreativityWorks 08 awards ceremony last night (22nd May)
A Blackburn College student, and Blackburn based Lime Studios; Chadwick Dryer Architects and Bannerbags were announced as East Lancashire’s leading creatives, whilst Wayne Hemingway won the Creative Inspiration award.
The Creative Inspiration Award, supported by Oneighty Creative is a special award designed to recognise an organisation or person that has made an outstanding contribution to promoting or nurturing creative talent and creative entrepreneurship in Pennine Lancashire.
Wayne Hemingway, co-founder of Red or Dead and HemingwayDesign, has done just that, and won the award in recognition of his tireless passion in promoting his native East Lancashire as well as his design work.
Famous for his radio and TV appearances, Wayne’s design business has made a significant impact on the quality of urban design in the UK. His company is now responsible for the butt shaped water butt and a new range of sheds for B&Q.
On receiving the award, Wayne Hemingway said: “East Lancashire is brimming with creativity The creative sector has replaced manufacturing as the second most valuable sector to the economy after the service industry– and creativity is now recognised as having massive benefit both to peoples well being and the economy . We need to encourage and nurture the entrepreneurial and creative businesses in East Lancs to ensure that the region prospers.”
Blackburn College student, Dianne Lawson, has juggled a young family alongside studying and developing her own business. On receiving the Creative Student Award she said: “I am so proud that my work has been recognised alongside that of Wayne Hemingway’s. Winning the Creative Student Award is fantastic publicity for my business and I hope will lead me into new and exciting pastures.”
Doug Chadwick, of Chadwickdryer Architects, scooped the Creative Space Award for his inspirational home office just outside Blackburn. “I am passionate about creating enjoyable, interesting spaces and did that for my new practice at home. I hope this inspires other home workers to realise that working from home need not be a poky back bedroom or a corner of the dining room table, but can be an exemplar of good practice. ”
Paul Gilbraith of Blackburn-based Bannerbags who won the Creative Innovation Award for recycling advertising banners into eco-friendly fashion bags, commented: “Thousands of advertising banners are produced for festivals, concerts and advertising campaigns using PVC and polypropylene, which do not biodegrade. Bannerbags is the only UK manufacturer of fashion bags crafted from recycled advertising banners. We contact companies who use this PVC banner marketing and encourage them to recycle them as a product for resale or promotional purposes.”
Nationally acclaimed Lime Creative Studios, a small photography studio based in Blackburn, was announced as East Lancashire’s most Creative New Business. Photographer Paul Whittle said: “We’re here to stay! Blackburn offers no barriers to enterprise. Look at Wayne Hemingway! Winning this award is fantastic as it’s about acknowledgment of our achievements so far. As this is only our second year in business, it’s something we look forward to build on and grow further.”
BBC Radio Lancashire’s Phil Trow, who hosted the Awards, said: “We have a lot to be proud of in East Lancashire – it truly is a hub of creative talent that has a regional and national impact, boosting Lancashire’s economy.”
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