Beacon hits 200
Beacon South West has welcomed its 200th company, Dorset Cereals, into the fold of star businesses with Beacon status. The global supplier of premium branded mueslis and cereals joins a powerful cluster, which includes Burts Potato Chips, GroBag, Briers and Aardman Animations.
An initiative set up by the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA), Beacon South West aims to bring together companies with a proven track record of success, from a diverse range of industries, to showcase best practice, share ideas and spearhead growth.
Peter Farquhar of Dorset Cereals and Sue Baker of Beacon SW
The latest companies to receive Beacon status reflect the uniqueness and breadth of the group - Dorset Cereals, a household name and international consumer brand; Vero Software, a designer of sophisticated software for the mould and die industries and Avon Metals, a metal trading company.
Don Babbs of Vero Software and Sue Baker
Sue Baker, director of Beacon South West, comments: "Within Beacon, we have businesses with staff numbers ranging from 12 to 1,800, and turnovers from £1.5 to £130 million. All of our companies have amazing success stories and have been able to demonstrate outstanding achievement across a range of criteria, including innovation, performance, profitability and culture. Many have been recognised externally, with twelve, so far, being awarded the Queen's Awards for Enterprise and others winning regional and industry awards.
"Beacon South West is a unique initiative where business leaders from extremely diverse sectors are able to draw on each other's expertise and share ideas. It is rare to find leaders from different industries meeting together regularly, let alone feeling comfortable enough to discuss business challenges with one another.
"Where else would you see the founder of playground equipment meeting regularly with the chief executive of a business telecommunications company? Or where would you find a senior manager of a regional airport liaise with an Oscar-winning animations company?
"We would like to see more companies like Dorset Cereals, Vero Software and Avon Metals applying to join the Beacon network, contributing to our 'knowledge hub', steering the regional business agenda and building fruitful business alliances and initiatives."
Dorset Cereals, the newest Beacon, has experienced phenomenal growth since a radical re-launch last year. By focusing on design and quality, it has become the fastest growing cereal brand in the UK, and the number 2 muesli. The 17-year-old company has been transformed from a local enterprise with limited national and international availability into a global brand, making and distributing mueslis to 70 countries across the world.
Peter Farquhar, managing director of Dorset Cereals, says: "Joining the Beacon network has been fantastic as it means all our hard work over the last two years in developing our brand has been formally recognised. We look forward to helping advance the aims of the Beacon network."
