By Saul Cooke-Black

THE managing director of Stonehouse-based Green Gourmet is celebrating after winning a prestigious prize.

Julie Moore was named Director of the Year at the South West Director of the Year awards, at a ceremony held in the Bordeaux Quay in Bristol.

She said: “Winning the Director of the Year award was a huge surprise.

“It is a great honor to be selected from the pool of such worthy candidates.

“As we expand, we will continue to grow the team at Green Gourmet and awards like this help raise the profile of the company with potential future employees.

“This means the most talented people in the industry are aware of us and our successes, which helps enormously when recruiting.”

The awards ceremony celebrated the role of entrepreneurs, company directors and other enterprise leaders in building business success, creating wealth and growing the economy.

Green Gourmet, a food innovation company, was founded in 1991 by Adam Starkey, and now turns over some £13 million with a 38-strong team.

Since being appointed as managing director in 2008, former chef Julie has almost trebled their turnover.

Forecasted profits to the year end of June 2015 are anticipated to be the highest in the company’s history.

With its roots in school catering, Green Gourmet now services over 125 local authorities and contract caterers.

Ms Moore has also built on the core business by diversifying into the travel catering market, with sales in the on-board catering market growing to over £3 million in just four years.

Its products are served on BA, Virgin Atlantic, Thomson, Monarch and Qantas and are also exported for service to seven countries outside of the UK.

Ms Moore, alongside other regional award winners, will now go on to compete for the UK Director of the Year finals later this year.