Winning the Business of the Year (Medium) Award is appreciated by The One Group for the recognition it gives the company.

"We are delighted, for the hard work and commitment regarded by a wider audience," said director Tristan Drane.

The One Group started life four years ago with a different name and different perspective but the same principles it has today.

It was set up by three recruitment professionals as Sphere Financial Recruitment and based in the Huntingdon area.

A Peterborough office, at 44 Tyndall Court, Lynch wood Business Park, was opened in early 2006,followed by a Cambridge office late last year.

The company responded positively to client feedback to broaden its horizons and re-brand itself earlier this year as The One Group.

It specialised in providing accountancy personnel, but late in 2007 developed a new office support division which was followed up recently with an executive division. It has broadened its horizon, not being solely a recruitment only company.

The One Group is now developing its Engage and Retain division with current business partners, and the future is looking rosy indeed.

Highly commended:

Complete IT Limited specialises in providing IT support services aligned to business needs. It has been trading since 1992, but in Peterborough since 2002.

In the past 12 months, it has won over one new client a month, is supporting more high-profile businesses than ever before, has improved all areas of client and service delivery, moved away from delivering traditional break fix IT support services to adopting a consultative business benefit approach with clients, and is committed to helping reduce the effects of landfill waste and to save energy by recycling all its waste paper and cardboard.

This year Complete IT Ltd has made acquisitions in Oxford and Swindon, opened a new office in Nottingham, increased its turnover to £6 million and employed six new staff in Peterborough.

Specsavers has been a provider of eye care to the Peterborough community for 22 years. It employs about 76 people on three floors in Bridge Street and its laboratory in Priestgate.

Its mission statement is: "To be the best value opticians providing affordable eye care and hear care to all, satisfying people's needs, simply, clearly and consistently."

It has also invested in training its optometrists to a higher level to perform cataract assessments and diabetic retinopathy. It now operates several clinics for diabetic customers only, and is now seeing about 250 diabetics every month. Every new employee has a five-day induction before they can serve a customer, which includes two days out of store with a specialist trainer.