A Poole company has been named UK Small Business of the Year.

Marine electronics specialist Actisense received the title at the Chamber Business Awards.

Staged by the British Chambers of Commerce, the ceremony is one of the UK’s most contested and prestigious business award programmes.

Each year organisations of all sizes and sectors from across the UK compete for the titles and the national recognition they bring.

The Small Business of the Year category, sponsored by Facebook, was contested by nine regional winners from around the country.

The judges selected Actisense as the overall winner for showing:

• Clear differentiation of their products from their competitors.
• Strong managerial and financial performance.
• Displaying clear innovation and potential for even further growth.

The business also won acclaim by showing evidence of its commitment to its staff.

Phil Whitehurst, Chief Executive Officer, who collected the award, said: “Our team of 28 talented individuals have worked incredibly hard to make Actisense the well-respected brand that it is today.

“We have developed award-winning products and built up a fantastic network of trusted international distributors who are themselves an extended part of the Actisense family.

“Together, we continue to delight our customers and we look forward to another exciting year ahead with even more exciting innovations planned. Thank you to Facebook for this great honour.”

Actisense was formed by Mr Whitehurst, a Chartered Electronics Engineer, in 1997.

Its intelligent marine electronic products are now exported to more than 80 distributors in 40 countries worldwide.