At LilaConnect, supporting small businesses is our top priority. To this end, earlier this year, we launched our business gigabit full fibre packages to provide small businesses with a better internet experience.
Our support extends beyond our products. For example, for the past three years, we have supported the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce Business Awards by sponsoring the ‘Online Business of the Year’ category.
Our team attended the awards ceremony on 13th July 2023 to hand over the award to this year’s winner…Nomadic Leisure!
Online Business of the Year Award Winner, Nomadic Leisure
Nomadic Leisure, an online business specialising in Off Grid and Leisure Supplies, truly blew our judges away. This young couple – partners at home and in business – are the epitome of British entrepreneurialism.
Faced with career setbacks caused by Covid, they decided to monetise their hobby. Starting with renovating campervans to stocking the product to build the vans, Nomadic Leisure has evolved into a one-stop shop for all supply needs.
And ironically, this phrase could be applied to the couple that, with no prior knowledge or experience, taught themselves how to operate as a fully online business. This includes SEO, Google Ads, Web Building, Marketing and more.
Nomadic Leisure’s results are phenomenal. With the work ethic and skills it has shown, we do not doubt this company’s ability to achieve its growth goals – including dominating its market space in Europe and the US. A huge congratulations to this well-deserved company!
Overall, this year was a solid category and a close call for the judges. All 2023 entrants are performing exceptionally well in their markets and offering something above and beyond the competition. Here’s the full rundown of all the brilliant finalists:
Nemesis Now
Nemesis Now design, create and distribute collective merchandise from the world’s most iconic entertainment brands across TV, film, music and gaming. Since 2021, over 800 new products have been released, warehouse capacity has been increased, and a new office and showroom space in Stoke-on-Trent has been added.This growth has been driven by the company’s ability to adopt innovative online techniques. As well as the company’s obvious talent for cultivating a community via social media channels, our judges were impressed with its focus on sustainability. The business has introduced interactive online Flipbook catalogues for customers, which reduced printing costs and environmental impact. In addition, the Nemesis Now website uses 100% renewable energy.
Nemesis Now is an ambitious company primed for growth, with a bespoke Amazon Sales Strategy and a B2C website in process. With a team of such young talented, passionate product designers, we are confident that demand will grow and will continue to bring joy to an ever-growing customer base.
UK Rave Inflatables
The UK’s largest inflatable Party Cube Hire company, UK Rave Inflatables, is a family-run business “bringing the party to your door”. With franchisee options, it has taken ‘online business’ to the next level by helping to create and populate a following in multiple areas, including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and more.
In addition, the website, designed by the team, has been an absolute triumph and is an end-to-end ‘experience’ in itself. It’s simple to see the cubes, social media channels, and video content, but its booking system is the real party piece. By integrating its booking system, people can go straight to bookings by entering their postcode from the website. This is also helpful from a marketing perspective. With the data collected (and strict privacy guidelines observed), it can follow up with customers who break off mid-booking, fully capitalising on the interest generated.
UK Rave Inflatables aims to expand its UK footprint. With the care and security it affords its franchisees, this is clearly a reachable goal.
National Plant Solutions
National Plant Solutions is a leading supplier of safety and mechanical inspections for heavy-duty lifting equipment and plant machinery. The company has seen exceptional growth since trading in 2017. It has built a broad customer base from small independent businesses to large companies such as Ready Power, HS2 and Balfour Beaty.
It’s not just customer growth. It has jumped from 8 employees to 40 in the past year alone. We were impressed with its focus on employee development. Most of the key objectives in the years ahead involve training the current workforce and an apprenticeship program for the next generation of professional engineers.
Moreover, this company could not fit the ‘online business’ category better. It embodies digital transformation for a business in a digitally lagging sector. For example, it can directly attribute customer growth and substantial contract wins to the innovation they delivered by putting all certifications, renewal reminders and documentation records online.
Huge congratulations to all the businesses involved this year. Along with the hard work that runs hand-in-hand with being an entrepreneur in the first place, we are dealing with a cloudy economic picture, and despite all of this, the 2023 entrants are changing the game!
Join us in celebrating all the innovative and talented businesses in Staffordshire by discovering more about all the finalists and the other categories in this year’s Business Awards here.
