Solent 250 Awards 2023

We were delighted to attend the 2023 Solent 250 Awards, organised by The Business Magazine – South East. The private dinner and awards ceremony was held at the Southampton Harbour Hotel, with glorious views across the water. We were honoured to be sponsors of the awards and help celebrate these inspiring local companies.

It was a real pleasure to be able to present Simon Escott with the Growth Story of the Year award, at the Solent 250 Awards Dinner. CMA’s Associate Director George Weston presented the award. He says: “Not only have Portsmouth Aviation Limited delivered some fantastic growth, but it is also how they achieved this that really stood out.”

The judges felt that Portsmouth Aviation have focused on being a strategic partner to customers and suppliers, they have a workplace culture that prioritises creative relationships and have consistently invested significant sums in capital and plant to maintain their excellence in engineering and manufacturing solutions. George adds: “Furthermore, they recognised the strategic importance of diversifying into humanitarian and environmental solutions for the ongoing sustainability of the business. My congratulations to Simon and the team at Portsmouth Aviation.”

CMA Commercial Director Richard Dibden summed up the event: “Congratulations not only go to our Growth Story of the Year winner, Portsmouth Aviation Limited, but also all our finalists, namely Beyond Retail (UK), Partnering Health, MSP Capital Ltd and Supreme Freight Services Ltd. It was an incredibly competitive category and to be shortlisted in the final five is a tremendous achievement and testament to the performance of these businesses.”

Photo credit: The Business Magazine. Pictured (left to right): David Evans Chairman, Simon Escott MD, George Weston (CMA) and Andy Bowles Supply Chain director.

The Solent 250 is a yearly listing of privately owned Solent businesses ranked by sales turnover. The list is compiled by The Business Magazine and sponsored by HSBC, Irwin Mitchell, RSM UK, University of Southampton Business School, Vail Williams and CMA Recruitment Group. You can find out more about the awards on the Business Magazine website as well as see the full list of this year’s winners.