Business Awards success helped Spirent raise its profile and ‘gave us recognition’

Spirent Communications, winner of two awards at the 2024 Torbay Weekly Naturally Inspiring Business Awards, says its vision is to support the greater good and raise the profile of Torbay.

It was a memorable evening for  Spirent as the Paignton office of the international technology company won both the Overall Business of the Year and Innovation awards.

With over 100 employees — many of them specialist engineers — Spirent has spent 35 years pioneering solutions to some of the world’s biggest technological challenges.

Adam Price, vice-president of Spirent  in Paignton, described winning the Overall Business of the Year award as a “total surprise” but a very welcome one.

Based in Aspen Way, Spirent helps companies worldwide test the performance and reliability of GPS navigation systems. The company serves hundreds of high-profile clients across the automotive, aerospace, defence and consumer electronics sectors.

Mr Price explained that without GPS, which provides essential timing signals, everyday technology such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, radios and even banking systems would not work properly.

Specialist engineering companies like Spirent play a crucial role in ensuring these systems are tested thoroughly.

Mr Price said: “Raising the profile of what we do locally has helped people understand the importance of GPS.”

Winning the business awards, he added, had helped boost Spirent’s connectivity, particularly with other companies in Torbay’s Electronics & Photonics Innovation Centre (EPIC), which has established itself as an internationally recognised hub for technology.

“Winning the award gave us recognition and gravitas, which I think really helps raise the overall profile of local businesses,” he said. “We all share one ambition, which is to raise the profile of what we do here in Paignton. When you bring more great minds together, bigger things can happen.”

The awards have also helped strengthen Spirent’s ties with South Devon College, where the company has helped author a GPS module for the college’s engineering course  along with the universities of Plymouth and Exeter.

Mr Price said: “Having that connectivity with academia is fantastic because it helps attract talent to the area. We find that once people come here, they don’t want to leave. While you can get exciting jobs in big cities like London, working in Torbay offers a great lifestyle balance.” 

Spirent actively supports local education through its STEM programme with South Devon College and by sponsoring PhD students.

Mr Price added: “We are keen to bring in new talent, provide education and training, and continue to support the local community.”

Spirent is part of the Torbay High-Tech Cluster, a group of global technology leaders in Torbay and South Devon driving economic growth in the region.

Mr Price believes that due to the essential demand for GPS technology, Spirent is a solid representative of the community and a company that will continue to grow.

He said: “We feel incredibly proud of what we do here. Anything we can do to support other companies within the High-Tech Cluster, raise our profile, and make Torbay an identifiable high-tech, ambitious growth area is really important to us.”

Spirent is no stranger to awards and won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2022.

It was one of only 226 organisations in the United Kingdom to be recognised with the award, which acknowledges the company’s excellence in international trade.

Mr Price encouraged other businesses to enter the Torbay Weekly Naturally Inspiring Business Awards 2025, highlighting the  benefits it offers to the community.

He said: “For the small amount of effort it takes to enter, having a symbol that marks your business as one of the best in the area is an excellent tagline for the community.

“Torbay needs to develop ongoing expertise in contemporary, technical areas. Awards like these play a huge role in highlighting and supporting that growth.”

He also praised the role of the Torbay Weekly, saying its recognition of local businesses through awards is a “powerful symbol of what this area can achieve”.

And he emphasised the importance of inspiring young people.

“It’s all about getting young people excited about what we do and educating them from the ground up.”

How to enter

Interest in the Torbay Weekly Naturally Inspiring Business Awards 2025 is already gaining momentum — and we want to make it as easy as possible for businesses to enter or to be nominated.

Entries are now open  for this year’s awards, with a date of Wednesday, June 11 already set for the glittering finals night at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay.

The awards have grown in size and stature since being launched three years ago. Now we are keen for even more businesses and their people to be saluted and recognised.

As before, you can enter a category as a business yourself.  But now you can also nominate a business —  and we will do the work for them. You nominate them  and a member of the Torbay Weekly  team will make contact with them to help with the application process. Just go online to  torbaybusinessawards.co.uk to enter or nominate.

We also have two more categories for you to consider. South Devon building supplies firm Inter-Line are on board again with their Apprentice of the Year category and we are also delighted to welcome  Torquay United FC to the awards. They will be sponsoring a new Sport and Health and Wellbeing category.

To enter, go online to the website torbaybusinessawards.co.uk where you will find out how to enter or how to nominate businesses for the awards, the categories and their criteria. Entries will close at midnight on Friday, April 25. A judging panel will sit to choose the shortlisted finalists of each category. 

The finalists will be announced online and in paper on Thursday, May 15. They will go forward to the finals night.

This year’s sponsors

Torbay Council (headline sponsors and Overall Winner); Wollens (Best New Business); Newton Abbot Racecourse (Best Marketing Initiative); Stagecoach (Greener Futures award); English Riviera Bid Company (Tourism Company of Year); Princess Theatre (Rising Star Award); South Devon College (Inspiring Employer of Year); Police and Crime Commissioner  Alison Hernandez (Commissioner's Business Community Champion);  Torbay Business Forum (Small Business of Year); Majestic Holidays (The James Wright Award for Inspirational Leadership, or ‘Jimmy Award’); Sally Allen (Innovation); Inter-Line (Apprentice of the Year); Torquay United FC (Sport and Health and Wellbeing Business of the Year).

 The Torbay Weekly Lifetime Achievement awards for contribution to business and the community will be announced on the finals night. 

The Overall Business of the Year will be chosen from across the category winners on the finals night and is not a category for entries.