Serious Waste Management has scooped the top prize of Outstanding Business of The Year in its home town of Burton on Trent.
The awards, which are held annually by the local evening newspaper, the Burton Mail, and Central Telecom chose Serious Waste Management to win the Business of the Year Award, the Small Business of the Year and David Birkett, the Managing Director, was runner up in Business Personality of the Year.
Serious designs, installs and services cost-effective and environmentally sound sewage and F.O.G. (fats, oils & grease) management systems from cesspools, septic tanks, and sewage treatment plants to pumping stations and rising mains, fat and grease control systems and wet waste disposal. The company operates throughout the country but particularly in Staffordshire, Cheshire and Warwickshire.
The evening was presented by journalist Sally Magnusson and the judges were unanimous in their decision to give the Outstanding Business of the Year award to Serious Waste Management in recognition of its commitment to the environment, its customer service, its future policies and of course, its name.
David Birkett said: "We are absolutely thrilled to win all these awards. We were ecstatic to find we'd won the Small Business of the Year, but to then to hear that we were the overall winners of the Outstanding Business of the Year award, against some very tough opposition of much larger firms, was a fantastic surprise. We feel very strongly about contributing to our local community and work to protect the environment wherever we install, service or design a system.
"Serious is founded on the belief that we all have a 'duty of care' to dispose of waste in accordance with a sustainable environment," he added.
The Burton Mail has featured articles about David and his wife, Joanna and the thriving business they run from the town and has published articles about his campaign to try to combat "cowboy" operators who dispose of sewage illegally.
The judges commented: "What's in a name? This company recognised there could be plenty and has reinvented itself through rebranding. "