This years’ popular Business Boost competition has finally concluded

The annual Dragon’s Den type CN Group co-ordinated competition finals were held in the boardroom at the Evening Mail in Barrow

In what is an eagerly anticipated event for companies of all types and sizes, south Cumbria had six finalists battling it out.

There were also contests in east and west Cumbria.

With advertising and business mentoring packages worth ten thousand pounds up for grabs in the two main categories, the competition as always was fierce, with pitches delivered to a judging panel in an effort to secure success.

Karl Burrell, managing director of accountancy firm Lamont Pridmore South Cumbria, was joined on the judges' panel by CN Group's Barrow commercial lead Chris Simpson and Evening Mail journalist Louise Allonby.

Mr Burrell said: "This is the third year that Lamont Pridmore have been involved and what strikes me more and more is the wide range and diverse business offerings in Cumbria.

"There are lots of people out there doing lots of really good things."

CN Group's Mr Simpson said he had been impressed by the passion showed by the business owners pitching on the day.

He said: "For us to be able to work with these other businesses and to help them along with their development is a great opportunity.

"We are all part of the same community and if we’ve got the expertise they need, it's great for us to share that with them."

In the category for businesses with fewer than two hundred and fifty employees there were three finalists.

These were Brathay Challenges, Clocktower, and Barrow Training Partnership.

Clocktower owner Tom Harvey explained in his pitch how he took over the family firm, now in its thirty sixth year, from his parents Liz and Robert. The business runs out of Milnthorpe, and is the largest independent retailer of kitchen and other domestic appliances in the South Lakes.

Mr Harvey said to the judges: "We don't pressurise people, we know our stuff and we make our customers happy.

"Our customers are very local and they're very loyal."

Category winners were Brathay Challenges.

Director Dave Harvey and volunteer supporter Paul Dewar, described how the non-profit making business arranges fundraising challenge events throughout the county, enabling the company to provide guidance and support for some seven thousand young people every year.

It has a team of a hundred and fifty volunteers which allows them to organise events such as the Windermere Marathon.

Mr Harvey said: "The business is about empowering young people and raising income in order to support our work with disadvantaged youngsters and their families, particularly in the Furness area.

"It's about community engagement and raising aspirations in the young people of our area."

Giving something back to the community was also at the heart of the winning company in the category for businesses up to five years old.

Teacher Danielle Carlton and former army member Tony Martinez run a teaching agency based in Ulverston. They decided to set up a countywide summer day camp, called Camp Cumbria.

Similar to Brathay Challenges, it is a non-profit making business which was a common theme amongst the winners this year.

Mr Martinez said that Camp Cumbria, which is an Ofsted-registered organisation, provides holiday activities for children aged four to fifteen and expects to provide activity-based experiences for around one thousand local children this year.

Camp Cumbria provides sports, circus skills, survival skills and a host of water-based events at its two centres in Coniston and Cockermouth.

Mr Martinez said: "It's about getting kids into the open air and doing stuff, interacting with others and learning new skills."

Runners-up in the category was The Lakeland Pudding Company, a business which provides gluten free and dairy free puddings, and is based at the Rusland Pool Hotel at Haverthwaite.

The company is run by a husband and wife team Rachel and Michael Pound, along with Mark Cummings, who is the head chef at Rusland Pool.

The final runner up was another husband and wife team, who own Supply Chain Cumbria.

The procurement and supply chain consultancy was set up in 2014 by Mike and Clare Farnworth, whose clients include BMW and Aston Martin.