Top 100 Businesses in York named by York Business School

Now an integral part of York Business Week, the awards ceremony saw business leaders from around the city eagerly awaiting the results of this year’s Top 100. Alongside the coveted First Place, awards up for grabs this year were Highest Climber, Highest New Entry, One to Watch and for the first time, Global Reach and Community Engagement and Social Mobility. 

Professor Karen Stanton, Vice Chancellor of York St John University, who opened the event, said: “We are delighted to support York Business Week by presenting the Top 100 Business Awards for the third year. The list of York’s most significant employers is made possible due to extensive analysis of financial reporting data, undertaken by our talented team of York Business School staff & students. We all take great pride in giving local businesses the opportunity to celebrate their hard work and be recognised for their contribution to the city’s economic success”. 

Recognised for their continued growth in the housing industry, it was Persimmon Homes who took First Place for a third time. Managing Director, Simon Usher collected the award and said: “It’s an honour to receive this recognition. 2019 has been all about regaining positivity and putting customers first delivering on our social and environmental responsibilities.”

 Shepherd Group, Pavers Shoes, Gear4Music and TSYS all achieved a place in the top five. 

The Highest Climber award was presented to laboratory technology firm Abingdon Health LTD, who were also honoured in last year’s Top 100 as the One to Watch. York Pullman, a transport business first founded in York in 1926, took the award for the Highest New Entrant this year. 

Piksel Limited were awarded with the One to Watch for their increasing position in the media industry, IT solutions and cloud governance. General Manager Tim Williams picked up the award and praised the city’s sense of community: “In the IT sector here, we all talk to each other. York itself is the ‘one to watch’ as a business community: with all the tech, all the start- ups we’ve got a bright future in front of us.” 

This year saw six awards in total, with the introduction of the Global Reach and Community Engagement and Social Mobility categories.

Cellhire CEO Martyn Stevens collected the Global Reach award for their business that began by renting out “big brick cell phones in 1987”. He said that York has huge advantages when working with global partners: “York is a fantastic backdrop when we welcome our customers and partners. I’m always asked to walk colleagues down ‘Harry Potter street’.” 

The inaugural Community Engagement and Social Mobility award went to Choose 2 Youth, a not for profit Social Enterprise working with children, young people and adults with disabilities and additional needs. Director Rachel Smith collected the award and said: “This is really special to us, we’re a really small community interest company, started just 5 years ago. Our main aim is to make young people that we work with able to be part of their community in York. We work really hard to help them gain those skills and live independently. Working with businesses to secure opportunities for them makes all the difference to our young people.” 

The full list of Top 100 Businesses is revealed in a 48-page supplement alongside insightful editorial, charity and business profiles, published in The Press on 13 November. 

In addition to the Top 100 Business Awards, York St John University will be supporting York Business Week by hosting The Business of… The BBC with Tim Smith, Thursday 14 November.