Derby-based wetsuit and apparel specialist Huub Design has scooped a hat-trick of business awards at the 2015 Derbyshire Business Awards dinner, including the coveted Business of the Year title for 2015.
As well as being named Derbyshire Business of the Year, the company also walked away with the Small Business of the Year award, while company founder and CEO, Dean Jackson, was named Entrepreneur of the Year.
Huub has won a string of industry awards for its pioneering wetsuit designs, which are worn by many top athletes including the Olympic medallist Brownlee brothers as well as celebrity triathletes such as Jenson Button and Gordon Ramsay.
Huub wetsuits have been designed to improve a swimmer’s position in the water, making them more hydrodynamic with improved buoyancy and stroke efficiency. They allow biceps and calf muscles to move more freely and feature a specially designed fast breakaway zipper.
Huub’s products are sold in more than 17 countries and 300 retail outlets worldwide.
Collecting the Business of the Year award, Dean said: “Wow, thank you. I love Derby to bits and when I managed to bring the Jenson Button Triathlon to Derby, it’s something I’m immensely proud of.
“When I travel the world, people say ‘Huub Design, where are you from?’ and I say Derby. They say ‘where’s that?’ and you have to say ‘near Nottingham’. But recently, there’s an encyclopaedia of triathlon that come out. It states that the wetsuit experts are in Derby – it’s neoprene, it’s aero-engines, it’s motor industry… We are a very unique city and I cannot tell you how proud I am to live here and work here.
“We are a team of nine and we are making a big impression globally. I’m so proud of this city and so proud of what we’ve achieved… this one has me speechless, thank you very much.”
The Derbyshire Business Awards cover the UK’s East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire). The full list of winners is:
Small Business of the Year, sponsored by East Midlands Trains
Winner – Huub Design
Runners-up – Astute Recruitment and Illuminow
Export Business of the Year, sponsored by DHL
Winner – Northern Lights
Runners-up – Guilford Europe and Container Components Europe
High Growth Business of the Year, sponsored by RBS
Winner – Northern Lights
Runners-up – JJM Building Supplies and MVIS
Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by the Academy for Chief Executives
Winner – Dean Jackson, Huub Design
Runners-up – Sarah Stevenson, Astute Recruitment and Adrian Fielding, Dragon Engines
The People Development Award, sponsored by the Babington Group
Winner – The Derbyshire Hotel
Runners-up – East Midlands Trains and Krantech Holdings
Best Use of Technology to Improve Business Performance, sponsored by the University of Derby
Winner – Krantech Holdings
Runner-up – Glossop Cartons and GCI
Excellence in Innovation, sponsored by Rolls-Royce
Winner – MVIS
Runner-up – Zero-1
Education and Business Partnership, sponsored by Cullum Detuners
Winner – Heanor Gate Science College
Runner-up – One to One Support Services
Business in the Community, sponsored by Responsible Solutions
Winner – East Midlands Wood Recycling CIC
Runners-up – Community Links Derby CIC and Derby Museums
Young person in Business Award, sponsored by Derby College
Winner – Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford, Brighter Directions
Runners-up – Jade Wilson, ACE Bookings and Dimitri Frixou, Mercia Image Print
Business of the Year, sponsored by the Garrandale Group
Winner – Huub Design
