Lucy Pittaway Ltd – took the title of ‘Creative Business of the Year’ at the recent Northern Echo BusinessIQ Awards, held at a glittering ceremony at Wynyard Hall. The awards are held to shine a spotlight on the North-East region’s most successful and inspiring businesses and their leaders. Lucy Pittaway Ltd was named the winner in its category for “celebrating artistic success and business acumen.”

Lucy said: “It was an honour for our family business to be recognised in this way. We’re passionate about the North-East and we were thrilled to have been even selected as a finalist. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the many wonderful businesses across the region, of which we’re very proud to be part.”

In recent years, Lucy has been recognised not just for her outstanding artistic talent, which has brought national acclaim and fans from across the globe, but also for her business prowess.

Having been awarded the title of the UK’s Most Popular Commercial Artist by the Fine Art Trade Guild on multiple occasions, North East success story of Lucy Pittaway Ltd has grown and diversified to where it is today. Last year, the business was also awarded for Outstanding Business Growth in the University of York Enterprise Awards, which aim to inspire and encourage excellence across industries while fostering positive societal impact.

Lucy Pittaway Ltd has grown to seven galleries and a newly opened destination outlet store across Yorkshire, the Lake District, and the North-East. It also includes a framing business, extensive warehouse and distribution facilities, an online shop, a hugely popular range of homewares and stationery collections. Lucy’s team has more than 60 colleagues, and sales continue to grow year on year.

North-East born Lucy Pittaway creates instantly recognisable, stunning artworks which adorn thousands of homes and businesses across the UK and beyond, and also leads her eponymous business as Managing Director. Lucy also drives the business’s corporate social responsibility focus on ‘giving back’ wherever possible; this includes free education, community involvement, and fundraising through her art.

Over the last two years, the profile of the business has grown exponentially throughout the UK as Lucy has continued to create new and exciting ways for people to access her art. She has recently opened additional galleries in Keswick, Bowness-on-Windermere, and Newcastle, increasing footfall and creating jobs in both urban and rural areas across the North of England.

Lucy added: “We are incredibly lucky to have been able to take a passion for art and create a commercially successful business. We are so proud of our team and all they have achieved and, through that success, that we’re able to positively impact the communities in which we work directly, and beyond.”