THIS year’s Wiltshire Business Awards saw hi-tech Bradford on Avon motoring company Anthony Best Dynamics come out on top, after it won the prestigious Overall Excellence Award.

The firm won the top award – which was sponsored by Thrings, a long-time partner of the event - after winning the Medium Sized Enterprise of the Year award earlier in the evening.

Winners in each of the categories at the awards, which took place at Center Parcs Longleat in Warminster, gained automatic entry for the Overall Excellence Award.

The judges said: "Anthony Best Dynamics is nestled in Bradford on Avon, and its idyllic location houses a centre of technological brilliance and precision engineering to the highest order.

"The company is growing year on year and stands toe-to-toe with its global competitors, servicing some of the world's largest automotive business.

"Under the stewardship of its founder, Anthony Best and its forward thinking managing director Tim Rogers, its past is impressive: its future is bright."

The seven other categories included Business Person of the Year, Apprenticeship Employer, Customer and Staff Care, Medium Size Enterprise, Environmental, Small Business of the Year and Services to the Community.

The company, which was founded by Tony Best in 1982, supplies advanced testing systems to the global motor industry for research and development and for production quality control.

It designs and manufactures specialised systems from its base in Holt Road for kinematics and compliance testing, driver assistance system testing, autonomous vehicle testing and steering system testing.

MD Tim Rogers said: "We are pleased and surprised to win the prize for overall excellence. This company has been developing products for over 30 years in Bradford on Avon and every car company in the world uses our products.

"I want to thank our brilliant team and it is great for them to get the recognition they deserve. This is an innovative company and it is in our mind set to approach things in a completely different way."

The company’s achievements include designing and manufacturing of the renowned Suspension Parameter measurement Machine (SPMM), while ABD was also an early pioneer of the use of an inertial GPS motion pack to control the path of a vehicle.

The runners up on the night for the Overall Excellence Award were Warminster-based payroll company RACS Group and Swindon-based property search provider TM Group.

John Davies, from Thrings, said: "I was blown away by the technology, the innovation and the global reach of Anthony Best Dynamics."

For more information about the ABD, visit www.abd.uk.com