TEAMWORK is the key to business success, according to footballer turned management guru Paul Fletcher.

The former Burnley FC star, now commercial boss of the new £490million Wembley Stadium, told the audience at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph East Lancashire Business Awards that running a soccer team was similar to running a business.

"If you get people pulling in the same direction you can succeed," he said, adding that business people should always look at their rival's point of view.

"I've always looked at things from how other people would see them," he said. The awards, sponsored by Business Link East Lancashire, Ultraframe, ELTEC and Macdonald Hotels and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, took a different format to previous years. In each quarter during 1999 our judges picked winners from entries received over the previous three months. Each quarterly winner was presented with their award at a special lunch presentation held at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors.

These winners then went through to the judging for our grand final. Although there were six awards made on the night, every firm that reached the final was already a winner.

The Company of the Year category is always a difficult one for our judges to decide on. But in the end it was computer group Time's impact on the local economy that helped it clinch the top prize. The firm's announcement last year that it was creating 500 new jobs locally was the latest chapter in the Simonstone-based group's dramatic growth story, which began 12 years ago with a small classified advert for a computer in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. It now boasts a turnover of more than £200million, employs more than 1,200 and is currently in the process of training each of its 900 strong sales force. The success of Small Business of the Year winner Ensign Developments in building up an enviable reputation was hammered home when it beat off competition from dozens of firms to win a lucrative long-term contract from Royal and Sun Alliance to carry out subsidence repair work in the North West.

In recent years the Burnley firm, founded in 1993, has doubled sales, increased profits and carried out work for blue chip clients including the Britannia Building Society, Yorkshire Bank and the Arndale Centre in Manchester.

Hilary Cookson was a popular choice for our Business Personality of the Year

Daughter of the company founder, she joined the Maureen Cookson store 18 years ago after cutting her retailing teeth at the John Lewis Partnership. Since then the famous Whalley store has gone from strength to strength and is now firmly established as one of the leading independent fashion outlets in the country. Hilary strongly believes that staff training is the key to maintaining the standards of service that makes Maureen Cookson what it is. She said: "Money is hard-earned and we believe it should be an enjoyable experience to part with it."

The Judge's Special Award went to a firm which has triumphed in the face of adversity.

Traditional "metal bashers" have had a dire time of things in recent years. Richards Sheet Metal, of Nelson, suffered more than most when its major customer Lucas decided to stop production on a project Richards was heavily involved in. The Richards family took the courageous decision to invest heavily in state-of-the-art laser equipment to open up a new market. The gamble paid off and the company not only survived but went on to secure a host of new customers with its new capability in the aerospace, electronics and motor industries.

The Personal Achievement Award attracted the largest number of entries throughout the Year but in the opinion of the judges one particular individual stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Peter Jackson, of Peter Jackson the Jewellers, is known throughout Lancashire for his innovative marketing skills. Those skills, which have seen him lay on special events such as James Bond theme nights, have helped him build his business with the addition of a new shop in Southport last year to add to those in Blackburn and Preston.

Exports have always been an important part of East Lancashire's economy and ironwork specialist B Rourke and Co has some impressive foreign customers on its list - including boxer Mike Tyson, who ordered gates for his American mansion.

Despite operating in what is very much a traditional industry the firm has established itself as literally a world leader. The Burnley firm's products can be found in over 30 different countries and 15 per cent of everything it produces now heads overseas.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.