Data transformation software provider Matillion was the big winner at last night’s Northern Tech Awards 2021.

The flagship awards are organised by GP Bullhound and showcase the 100 fastest growing technology companies from across the North of England, Scotland and Ireland.

To qualify for the main list, companies must operate in the tech sector and have generated over £500,000 in revenue three years prior.

Alongside the ranking, seven companies were selected by an expert panel of judges to receive special Judges’ Awards and the winners were announced at Tuesday night’s exclusive award ceremony at Leeds’ New Dock Hall,  attended by some of the biggest names in the region’s digital economy.

The Overall Judges’ Award went to North West unicorn Matillion in recognition of being the company ‘with the highest achievements for growth, innovation, international success and leadership’. 

The company has raised $310m in investment and Matillion’s founder and CEO Matthew Scullion also took home the Judges’ Entrepreneur Award for ‘exemplifying qualities of effective leadership’.

David Chamberlain, Jamie Garside and Joey Xoto, co-founders of Preston-based animation firm Viddyoze, won the Judges Young Entrepreneur Award after being described as a ‘young beacon of inspiration’. 

Twinkle won the Judges’ Tech4GoodAward for ‘being the company utilising outstanding technology for the good of society’.

Manchester-based AI-powered decision intelligence company Peak won the Judges’ Leadership Award for being the ‘management team with the strongest vision and best leadership’.

Leeds-based Crisp Thinking, founded by Adam Hildreth 15 years ago, won the Judges’ Award for International Success for having the ‘most impressive international reach’.

The Judges’ Innovation Award went to Manchester-based Connex-One, which was founded in 2013 and is run by brothers Nicholas and Richard Mealey.

The winner of the Fastest Growing Company Award for revenues over £10m was QBS Technology Group, with a growth rate of 166%.

Meanwhile Middlesbrough video game developer Double Eleven won the Fastest Growing Company Award for revenues under £10m with a growth rate of 205%.

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Nine of the most promising and exciting tech companies in the North of England, Scotland and Ireland were identified as this year’s ‘Northern Stars’. They were: Bank North; Culture Shift; Flawless; Modern Milkman; Nivo; Seeai; Settld; Summize; and XR Games.

XR Games won the Northern Star Award for potential international success; Modern Milkman picked up the Northern Star Overall Judges’ Award for being the best early-stage company with the highest potential for growth, as well as for innovation and international success; the Northern Star Innovation Award went to Flawless; and Culture Shift picked up the Northern Star Leadership Award.