Local winners celebrate county awards success
WITH nominations pouring in for this year’s big Hyndburn Business Awards, one of last year’s winners has revealed how it gave them the confidence to go on to countywide success.
Sundown Solutions Limited, of Altham, took the coveted Made In Hyndburn Award in 2017 and is fresh from triumphing at the Lancashire Red Rose Business Awards earlier this month, where it won the Digital Agency gong.
The innovative company, whose digital product has revolutionised a national NHS problem, was a finalist in two other categories at Red Rose, in two categories at the BIBAs and in the NHS supplier of the Year.
Two years ago Sun- down, which was set up in 2009 by husband and wife team Heath and Kelly Groves, developed the bedstatetracker.co.uk system. This was initially in response to the problem an NHS Clinical Commissioning Group reported of ‘bed blocking’ - where patients were ready to be discharged, but accommodation was needed to move them on.
The company developed a user-friendly software package for free, but retained the intellectual property, enabling it to then sell the system on to other providers.
Managing director Heath explained: “We are now the NHS-preferred system of choice for Staffordshire and Cornwall and we are also in advanced discussions with other NHS providers across the country.”
When the business won the Hyndburn award it employed seven people, which has increased to 12. The bedstatetracker.co.uk system was linked to more bled. Heath first met operations director Kelly at Fearns Community Sports College, Stacksteads, but went their separate ways when Heath joined the army.
They met up again in 1998 and married a year later.
Kelly, who had worked in the care industry, accompanied Heath on his posting to Germany and worked as a healthcare assistant on the base.
After four years, they returned to the Accrington area and Kelly retrained as a nurse and went on to become a registered care manager.
Nominations for Hyndburn Business Awards 2018 opened on March 13 and close on April 17.
To nominate visit www. hyndburnbusinessawards.co.uk