With the welcome announcement of Leisure Guard Security being a sponsor for The Bolton News Business Awards this year, we speak with Saj Kadva, Operations Director. Adamant that without the support of both family and all of the management around him, none of this would be possible, we find out more about his company and what these awards mean to him as a local businessman and entrepreneur. 

What inspired your business to sponsor The Bolton News Business Awards this year?

“I won the award way back in 2008. It gave me a huge boost locally both getting my name and the business recognised locally. Winning this gave me an incentive and huge drive to push forward with the business and start spreading my wings using the newfound recognition to expand outwards from Bolton as that central point. Along with this we are a local, Bolton based company that loves giving back to the town and the community.”

How does sponsoring these awards align with your company's values and objectives?

"As a company we are always striving to provide young people with a chance and a platform to get into business and succeed in business. We were massive advocates of the Kickstart programme as well as being part of different schemes and innovations such as the EY Foundation that helps young people from deprived backgrounds have the chance to see first hand how businesses work but to also do work experience within these organisations.

Through these programmes and many more we mentor young people helping to find pathways to success within business, as well as these programmes we also sat on the board of the Bolton Ignition Fund which provides people from the University starting up in business with the lucky winners receiving cash investments as well as invaluable mentorship. Our door is always open for any young person starting out or finding their way in business."

Why do you believe it is important to support these awards and continue highlighting Bolton and what its businesses have to offer?

"I am Bolton born and bred. As a company, we started in Bolton and we are still based in Bolton and always will be. We always try to give back to the community where possible, from supporting local charities to local employment. What we want to achieve is to highlight the best of Bolton to the nation and show what this little town in the North of England really can do."

What are the upcoming plans or future goals for your business?

"We are looking to take on more apprenticeships throughout the whole company. Education is really important to us, and we have our on site training facility which we use for different training courses. We want to continue our mentorship with young people across Bolton and Greater Manchester. This helps sculpt the future of our industry. One primary focus we have going forward as a business is attaining more corporate clients and winning bigger contracts now, we have the infrastructure set up to succeed in this area."

Could you share any recent projects or successes that your company is proud of?

"I think it would be prevalent to talk about one of our shining lights within the office, Danny. Danny came to us in 2021 through the kickstart scheme and his story is truly inspirational and shows that no matter where you are, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Some years earlier at the age of 18 Danny was made homeless. After a number of years struggling and dealing with the effects of homelessness, Danny heard about the kickstart scheme through the job centre. Initially he came to us on a social media and marketing role, but we soon discovered his talents were better suited elsewhere. Danny has gone from strength to strength and is now a key integral cog in the Leisureguard wheel. Working full time, he has huge responsibilities in our back office dealing with invoicing, scheduling and much more.

Seeing Danny excel and integrate seamlessly as part of the Leisureguard family fills us with pride. During the kickstart scheme we took on 13 candidates throughout the time, 12 of whom are now in full time employment. Danny along with Richad are full time within Leisureguard.

Richad has gone from a painfully shy, quiet lad to now solely running the whole company including the director’s social media, as well as daily, weekly and monthly reports that are essential to the business running like clockwork.

We were proud sponsors of the SheInspires Awards back in November and will continue this year; this event is amongst a number of events we have sponsored around the empowerment of women, homelessness, young people in the community, the fight against racism and many more, and is hopefully something we can continue to do for many years to come."

Find out more about this incredible business by heading over to the website.