News

 Business of the Year Award - Friday 27 April - Portland College

Managing Director Rober Ayres says:

Ashfield District Council are responsible for Hucknall, Kirkby in Ashfield, Sutton in Ashfield and Huthwaite.  In 2005 the Council made the decision to honour a Business of the Year Award to a business which had not only served the local community above and beyond the 'norm' but stood out from the rest with innovative ideas in business.

The successful business could be a brand new ventrue or one like Blake and Beeley who has been trading for many years.

When we received the invitation to the Awards Ceremony we did not know we had won, it was not until the representative from Rolls Royce began to describe the winner that we realised it was Blake and Beeley, and we proudly received the Business of the Year Award together with a commerative glass diamond paper weight and Diamond  Jubilee presentation coin.

Blake and Beeley have traded in Kirkby in Ashfield since 1972, but was formerly based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and its history can be traced back to1875 when it was a very well known ironmongers and farm machinery supplier.

On acquisition of the shop at Kirkby in Ashfield we became more of a local hardware store specialising in key cutting, picture framing, calor gas as well as the usual tools, paint and gardening supplies side.  We were one of the first shops to have a 'new fangled web page thingy'.  

We feel one of the main reasons for our success is our loyal local staff whose combined knowledge would be difficult to replace.  I would like to take this opporunity to publicly thank Melvyn, Neil and Sue, our full time staff members, and Emma (Ayres) Robert and Jennifer's grand-daughter, our Saturday Girl!

One other factor in our growth has been our philosophy of 'if you haven't got it you can't sell it'.