MOMENTS after his victory in last night's 2001 Evening Press Business Awards, Fran Johnson, managing director of Pocklington Coachworks of York, punched the air and announced: "Wow!"

Collecting the coveted painting-trophy from Liz Page, editor of the Evening Press, he told the gathering of nearly 200 finalists and other business leaders at the glamorous reception at York's Merchant Adventurers Hall: "In 1995 we had 19 employees all committed to a fundamental vision - to be the best, to exceed the expectations of our clients and to be quality driven.

"We realised that the biggest restriction to growth was getting the best people. We now have a fabulous team of 72, and every one of them will be absolutely delighted."

Earlier the firm, which builds trailers for Formula One racing teams, scooped the competition's Progress Though People Award collected by operations director Ian Urquhart, who said: "This is a rich platform for us."

Mr Johnson then went on to win the coveted Business Personality of the Year title.

Judges were impressed with how he had built up a massive reputation with the perfection-conscious Formula One industry, with 25 per cent of holdings.

And he did it by deliberately surrounding himself with people who had more expertise than him, but were prepared to follow his vision.

Updated: 12:06 Friday, December 07, 2001