WINNER of the Exporting Company Of The Year Award went to Chadwicks of Bury Ltd.

Chadwicks, which won the Queen's Award for Excellence in 1992, buy large quantities of aluminium foil which they print and punch into lids for the dairy, food and pharmaceutical industries.

Founded in 1933, the company was run as a locally owned manufacturing unit by Tom Chadwick.

It was sold, in 1982, to Sapa Holdings, a Swedish-owned company which invested large sums of money in plant and buildings enabling the company to grow from a turnover of £1 million in 1980, to £15 million in 1997.

Sapa Holdings sold the company to the Dublin-based Clondalkin Group in 1997.

Managing director Stephen Crow said: ''As a company, we dominate the UK market with a 70 per cent market share, exporting 40 per cent of our products worldwide.

''We have invested in state-of-the-art printing, punching and originations equipment and are one of the largest employers in Bury, moving from 35 employees in 1980 to a current workforce of 205.''

Clutching his award he said: ''We are delighted. It's been a hard year given the strength of the pound.

''We export to 40 countries and we will use the money for the benefit of our own staff.''

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