Case Studies
 Case Study - Ponthafren Association
2009 was an incredibly busy year for Newtown-based mental health charity Ponthafren Association since the "incredible shock" of winning a Powys Business Award.
The charity has seen a surge in member numbers and profile since picking up the award for the best social enterprise at the inaugural Powys Business Awards last September.
Jane Powell, development officer for Ponthafren, said: "We were so shocked to have won the award, totally gobsmacked. It was a real boost for our members.
"Unfortunately mental health does still have a stigma attached to it, so it's great to have been recognised in a mainstream awards scheme."
The staff have been working flat out since picking up the award, Jane said.
"The year so far since we won the award has been wonderful," she said. "We have seen lots of expansion. We now have 280 members at our Newtown centre, we have opened a new centre in Welshpool four days a week which has 80 members and we now have an out-of-hours crisis service open on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"A fund-raising drive has allowed us to refurbish all our rooms at Newtown, and set up new library facilities. And we're also working with a range of new partners now, including Powys Drugs and Alcohol and Drugs Offenders
"Primary schoolchildren from Newtown have been getting involved as well - helping with a garden bed scheme at our Newtown centre."
Jane praised the Powys Business awards for helping to raise the profile of her charity.
"I would definitely recommend to other charitable organisations that they go for the award – it's so great to be able to put the logo on all our headed notepaper! It really has given us better public recognition."
 Case Study - UK Foodhall
"If you're thinking of entering this year's Powys Business Awards, don't hesitate."
That's the advice of Karen McQuade, company founder of The UK Foodhall Limited, which won the 2009 award for 'Best Small Business'.
"We were less than three years old when we won the award and we couldn't believe it," she explains.
"And since winning the award we have seen a big growth in turnover, received massive support and gone on to win other awards."
The Welshpool-based company supplies food for school dinners in the UK under the banner of 'Great British Food for Great British Kids'.
When she entered the first Powys Business Awards, Karen didn't know what to expect.
"But I was pleasantly surprised," she said.
"The process was fantastic and the judges asked commercially astute questions and put me through my paces. The evening was great, we got lots of publicity and winning the award was great motivation for the team."
 Case Study - Hawksdrift Falconry
Young entrepreneur Layla Bennet says work has "gone mad" since she won a prize in the inaugural Powys Business Awards in 2009.
Layla runs Hawksdrift Falconry in Builth Wells, which promotes falconry as a traditional country sport and is dedicated to the conservation, protection and rehabilitation of wild birds of prey.
Layla picked up the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last September. And her business has gone from strength to strength ever since.
She said: "It was absolutely wonderful to win the award. It was lovely to get that recognition.
"I've had an absolutely fantastic year since then. My company received so much publicity as a result of winning the award and things have just gone mad here!"
Work has gone so "mad" for Layla, that she has been able to employ another member of staff and has seen her turnover double.
"We won a huge contract with a pest control company covering South Wales and Gloucester, and we have another really exciting project in the pipeline," said Layla.
Layla said she would encourage other young entrepreneurs to enter the awards. "It gives you so much self-confidence to be recognised in this way," she said. "It really is a huge boost"
Layla also appeared on the BBC programme Dragons Den and secured an investment offer.
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