Home-grown firms from the Caerphilly area took the top spots at the annual awards ceremony celebrating the stand-out enterprise in the county borough, seen as one of country’s most ambitious business regions.

CPS Group, a family-run printing company now worth several million pounds, and Kinetic Pixel, real-time graphics creators for broadcast and live events, received the Business of the Year titles for firms over and under 25 employees respectively at the 2015 Caerphilly Business Forum Awards.

They were among eight firms and individuals honoured at the event held at Bryn Meadows Hotel, Ystrad Mynach.

Chairman of the forum Denise Lovering staked the area’s claim to become a key commercial and industrial powerhouse within the emerging Cardiff Capital region – encompassing South East Wales - over the next five to ten years.

She said: “Caerphilly county borough, which has a great industrial heritage, is now establishing itself as a hotbed of exciting new business start-ups right on the doorstep of the capital city. With the creation of the new capital region over the next few years, this area is ideally placed to be a major driver of growth and a magnet for new investment. The business community here is determined to be right at the heart of this ambitious development.”

CPS Group, which works with high-profile clients including John Lewis, also received the Premier Award for the most impressive entrant overall in the popular annual awards programme.

Glen Parry, corporate project manager of CPS Group, said: “It’s very humbling to have received two awards. This is a great recognition for all the hard work that has been going on within the company.

“Last year was brilliant for business seeing our turnover increase from £1.5m to £3.5m. We’re in a niche sector in South Wales which works to our advantage, but we’re well aware of our competition. I know we’ll use this award to help us continue to grow and look for more opportunities in the sector.”

Kinetic Pixel’s managing director Craig Hann said: “The company has grown considerably in the last few years and is now well established in light entertainment programmes. We’ve actually moved offices three times in two years to accommodate new staff.

“Despite having many London-based clients, we feel we’re better placed in Caerphilly to fill the regional quota required by a lot of TV companies. Hopefully this award will help us to seek opportunities with a corporate client base, a market we’re now actively targeting.”

Caerphilly-based computer visualisation and animation company Bomper Studio, won the Innovation award.

Blackwood-based Seda, a packaging firm serving the food sector, took home the Manufacturing in Action award.

Other winners included Liz Morgan, of Ultimate Arcade Cabinets, who was awarded the Women in Business Award and Glyn Davies Auctioneers, which won the Contribution to the Rural Economy award.

Amanda Jones, of JNP Legal, picked up Apprentice of the Year and Dean Jenkins was named Entrepreneur of the Year.

Denise Lovering said: “As forum board members we never fail to be amazed by the diversity of business talent within the county. It’s encouraging to see so many of the winners working on a global scale, emphasising Caerphilly’s place within Wales’ wider economy. We extend our warmest congratulations to all those who contributed to the awards as competitors, nominees, judges, sponsors and guests.”