BathEmpire

Double Award Success at Nectar Business Awards

Posted on 02. Oct, 2012 by BathEmpireDavid in Our News

BATHEMPIRE.COM TAPS INTO WINNING STREAK

BathEmpire.com is part of the success story to be named Nectar Business Small Business of the Year and its CEO  as Business Achiever of the Year in a national awards programme, judged by a panel of leading business figures, including UK businesswoman and star of BBC 1’s The Apprentice Karren Brady.

Chris Li, founder and CEO of Luxury For Less, entered his company into the Small Business of the Year category and himself into Achiever of the Year in the Nectar Business Small Business Awards this March and blew the judges away, winning him £4,000, 100,000 Nectar points and a seat at a prestigious business round table event with Karren Brady.

Luxury For Less Ltd started as an eBay company in 2006 when Chris and his partner Vicky Wang sourced taps for a development project. One year and a £1million turnover later, Chris and Vicky decided to take the plunge by sourcing and manufacturing their own products to sell to plumbers and bathroom retailers. The company has since launched a consumer arm, BathEmpire.com, and its own Kirby Sebastian brand for the plumbing trade.

Lead judge, Karren Brady comments: “Luxury For Less and Chris really blew us all away. I really like the way in which they have made good investments and saw the bigger picture. They got smart and became a successful multi-channel retailer in a difficult market.

“As a member of the Nectar Business Small Business Awards judging panel, I was truly inspired by last year’s entrants, but this year’s have been even better! These awards are a great recognition of all the hard work and dedication these businesses and their employees put in every day, a commitment which should be rewarded.”

Chris Li says: “It’s hard to believe we’ve won two categories, I’m over the moon! Having been committed to this business idea for the last seven years working some incredibly long hours, it’s great to be recognised by Karren Brady and the Nectar Business Small Business Awards judges.

“I’m going to use the money to reward my hard working team and make a donation to the British Heart Foundation. The Nectar points are going to buy books for the company library, where we encourage all our staff to ‘learn to earn’.”

James Frost, Marketing Director at Nectar adds: “The Nectar Business Small Business Awards are now in their fourth year and this year the competition has been tougher than ever, with a high standard of entries across all six categories. The diversity of entries has been remarkable and it’s fantastic to see businesses from such different fields being awarded a Nectar Business Small Business Award. From a liquid nitrogen ice cream company to an on-site shredding company, the awards show that with dedication and a great idea an award winning business can be created.”

Small Business of the Year and Achiever of the Year

Name: Chris Li

Title: CEO

Company name: Luxury For Less

Company description: Bathroom fittings company selling to consumers, as well as plumbers and bathroom retailers

Location: Coventry

Entry synopsis: Luxury For Less Ltd started as an eBay company in 2006 when serial entrepreneur and founder, Chris Li and his partner Vicky Wang sourced taps for a development project. One year and £1million of turnover later, Chris and Vicky decided to take the plunge and source and manufacture their own products to sell to plumbers and bathroom retailers. The company has since launched a consumer arm and its own brand for the plumbing trade.

Judges comments:

“Good investments in order to grow their business. Typical of small acorns growing into big trees. They started on eBay and got smart and grew their business to achieve the success of a multi channel retailer in a very difficult market.” Karren Brady

“An inspirational example where the business leader has taken considerable personal risk and stake in creating a successful business.”James Frost

For more details on Nectar Business and the latest award winners, please visit: www.nectar-business.com/sba2012