Dragon's Den reject wins 'Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award'

Applied Language Solutions has won, 'The AXA Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award' at this year's National Business Awards, sponsored by Orange.

Applied Language Solutions may have been given the cold shoulder by Peter Jones and the mob at Dragons' Den, but the audience of 1,200 business leaders, VIPs and press gave CEO Gary Wheeldon a very warm welcome as he picked up the, 'Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award'.

The translation and interpretation company's Awards success is attributed to the huge organic growth the company's global operation has experienced. Since being founded in 2003, it has grown from being a one-man operation based in a back bedroom, into a company that now boasts offices worldwide including: California, Paris, Barcelona and Bulgaria,

With the company achieving such rapid growth it's not the first award CEO Gavin Wheeldon has picked up, he was named, The Credit Suisse Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006's North East regional heat.

Paul McMahon, managing director of AXA Distribution Services, said: "Applied Language Solutions marked itself out as a winner as they have an excellent model that has shifted the market place materially. They are an outstanding business performer with strong and inspirational leadership that has a tremendous focus on building a winning culture irrespective of geography. Significant reinvestment and a scalable model means that Applied Language Solutions is clearly building for the future and we wish them every success."

For a full list of this year's winners visit the National Business Awards website. If you think your business has what it takes to win in 2008, you can also register for next year's awards on the site.