TITANIA Ltd, the Worcester business which produces cyber security and compliance auditing software, has won a major industry award.

It took the small business of the year category at the national Chamber Awards in London. The black tie event, held at the historic Tower of London, is the national centrepiece for Chambers of Commerce across the country and the culmination of local and then regional rounds of awards.

More than 550 people were there to see Ian Whiting, Titania's chief executive, Nicola Whiting, the company's chief operating officer, and Ruth Inglis, sales and marketing manager, collect the award. Mr Whiting said: "We were honoured and delighted to be named the British Chambers of Commerce small business of the year, especially against such strong competition from across the whole country. Over the past five years we have worked incredibly hard in every area of our business, so it is wonderful to receive recognition from a highly regarded institution like the BCC. We would like to thank our local chamber, Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, for all its support over the years and on the awards night, along with NFU Mutual for their sponsorship and kind words. It really was an exciting day in Titania’s history.”

Open to all businesses with under 75 employees from across the Chamber network – which has more than 10,000 businesses – the judging panel assessed finalists on very specific criteria. Titania won due to specialities in its goods and services, strong managerial and financial performance, a high potential for growth and the evidence the business has a strong commitment to its staff.

The software firm, which recently celebrated the grand opening of new premises in Security House, Barbourne, has only been trading for five years, already boasting a wide array of clients that includes the financial, defence, telecommunications and various government departments across the world.

The team from Titania was joined by various representatives from Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, which was nominated for the member services award, and three other local businesses, which were also nominated for awards on the night. Pulsar Process Measurement, based in Malvern, were highly commended in the excellence in innovation category, whilst Kingspan Insulation, based in Leominster, were finalists in the sustainability and manufacturer of the year category. In addition, Evesham-based Associated Spring's Raymond and Hannah Haffield, were also finalists.

Mike Ashton, chief executive of Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, added: “For four local businesses and Hannah Haffield to all be nominated for national awards shows the strength of the business community in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. For Titania to have beaten off competition from across the entire country is an incredible achievement. As a business that has only been operational for five years, this is recognition of all the hard work that has been put in by the team at Titania. We are incredibly happy for all our nominated businesses and look forward to continuing to work closely with them in the future.