Meet the shortlist for this year’s Croydon Business Excellence Awards

The Croydon Business Excellence Awards 2019 shortlist was announced last week and – needless to say – there was a strong showing from the Cronx digital fam. 

The finalists are a subset of the fabulous and diverse businesses we have here in the Silicon Valley of South London. In the spirit of showcasing that fact to the world, here’s a quick summary of who they all are and what they do. Did you know them all? 

Best Business for Digital, Data and Technology 

First, here are the runners and riders in our sector’s dedicated category, which I’m looking forward to judging along with Sarah Luxford and Richard Roome in early September. 

• APT (Automated Payment Transfer) Ltd. Based in Sanderstead, this software company is the UK’s leading provider of automated BACS payment solutions for businesses, processing over £32 billion in transfers every year. 
• Click Enterprise. Central Croydon-based Microsoft Gold Partner specialising in managed SCCM, Windows 10, managed IT services and print management solutions. 
• Fifth & Blue Ltd. Fashion Tech retailer, offering a boutique collection of wearable tech sourced from selected designers.
• Giroux Limited. Data warehousing and analytics experts providing services to the insurance industry, operating out of Sussex Innovation Centre, central Croydon.
• Hozah Parking. Fully automated parking system using number plate recognition to bill drivers accurately and effortlessly, based in Sussex Innovation Centre, central Croydon. See recent blog post from Hozah’s founders on Croydon Digital.
• Inception Support Ltd. Coulsdon-based company providing expert Mac support and maintenance services for businesses, creatives and home users. 
• Kasava. Central Croydon-based specialists providing Artificial Intelligence and data analytics for lone and remote workforce protection, by automatically detecting when workers are in danger using AI in conjunction with sensing devices like smart bodycams and dashcams.
• Ladbroke Audio Limited. Custom built, high quality audio recording, sound design and editing studios in South Croydon, producing audiobooks and other audio including voiceovers for games. Born out of the UK’s oldest independent radio production house. 
• Rise Media Ltd. High end, full service creative video production agency specialising in engaging video content for global brands. Housed in TMRW, South London’s tech co-working space.
• Uniqodo. Housed in Sussex Innovation Centre, Uniqodo provides solutions to companies around the world to solve the problems associated with unique coupon codes. 

Digital folks up for awards in other categories

Three people from the digital category shortlist were also shortlisted for their individual contribution:

• Seetal Fatania from Fifth & Blue Ltd is shortlisted for the Women in Business award.
• David Fowle from Hozah and Eric Giroux from Giroux Ltd both made the cut for potential Entrepreneur of the Year.

Also duking it out for Entrepreneur of the Year against David and Eric are 2 of our other tech entrepreneurs:

• Baskar Sundaram, Baachu. Baskar is the founder of Baachu, a growth strategy consultancy that helps businesses improve their market position. Their offering includes digital products Baachu Scribble, a training platform for bid writing and Baachu Rain, a commercial intelligence portal.
• Indy Chatwal, I See Media. Indy’s social media marketing and optimisation agency has grown rapidly since launching in 2017, with an impressive client list and a crack team of social content creators and channel managers. 

A number of our great tech businesses and people are also shortlisted in other categories: 

• I See Media – Best Startup. As well as Indy being up for the Entrepreneur gong, his company is in the running for best startup.
• Natterbox – Commitment to the Community. One of Croydon’s larger tech businesses, Natterbox enables organisations to deliver better customer service with a Salesforce-based cloud contact centre solution.
• RedDoor IT Ltd – Best Business for Customer Service and Best Employer. Red Door provide managed IT services plus VoIP and cloud hosting solutions, from their offices near the Purley Way. 
• Sussex Innovation Centre Croydon – Best Business for Customer Service. Home to many of the businesses up for awards this year, SINC is Croydon’s incubator for innovative startups, across two floors of One Croydon (the infamous 50p building).

While not strictly speaking tech businesses, shout out to the video games wholesale and ecommerce crew for their nominations:

• Click Entertainment – shortlisted for Best Employer. International wholesaler and distributor of video games, consoles and accessories, with a large warehouse off Purley Way
• Go2games – shortlisted for both SME Excellence and Best Employer. Online retailer of high quality retailer of computer games, consoles and accessories

Huge congratulations to all those shortlisted! They’re just a sample of the diverse and impressive members of Croydon’s vibrant tech community, and we’re proud to have them here. 

Part of the purpose of Croydon Digital is to showcase all of Croydon’s digital, data and tech organisations, so whether you entered the awards or not, don’t forget to get yourselves listed in our directory (instructions here) and remember you’re welcome and encouraged to contribute blog posts here to tell the world what you’re up to! If you have an idea for an article but need some help putting it together, just drop us a line.