Entrepreneur turned sleep into success

The first featured nomination for this year’s Reporter Series Business Awards found success through providing a good night’s sleep.
Business Awards 2013 - SleepVendor 
(Umar Zaman, Entrepreneur of the Year nominee)Business Awards 2013 - SleepVendor 
(Umar Zaman, Entrepreneur of the Year nominee)
Business Awards 2013 - SleepVendor (Umar Zaman, Entrepreneur of the Year nominee)

Umar Zaman followed in his family’s footsteps and entered the competitive world of bed making two years ago.

Mr Zaman bought Sheffield-based SleepVendor Beds Ltd in 2011 after the firm went into administration.

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Based in Bradford Road, Birstall, the company employs 25 staff and boasts a turnover of £2,000,000.

Mr Zaman is nominated in the Entrepreneur of the Year category.

His entry into this year’s awards was driven by his commitment to producing high quality products, from divans and bed frames to bunk beds and head boards.

He said: “My dad was in this trade for 30 years but he retired and I set up by own business.”

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He added that trading under an established brand helped him to compete against other bed manufacturers in the district.

“It’s the brand itself, that’s what sells,” he said.

“And the experience that we have with this name.”

Mr Zaman said his company place quality ahead of quantity to provide the best beds for their customers.

“We focus on high-end beds,” he said.

“We don’t use cheap materials and they are well made.”

The company also recycles as much as it can, ensuring metal waste and plastic is collected and recycled.

The Reporter Series Business Awards celebrate our local firms and reward employees who deserve a pat on the back.

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Entrepreneur of the Year is one of nine categories firms can enter – all you have to do us fill out a simple nomination form, available at jpeventsnorth.co.uk.

We will feature as many entrants as possible in our papers, the Dewsbury Reporter, Batley and Birstall News, Mirfield Reporter and Spenborough Guardian.

Winners will be chosen from a shortlist of nominees for each category by a panel of independent judges and announced at a glitzy awards ceremony at Dewsbury Town Hall on October 24.

All of this can be fantastic publicity for your business.

We’re looking for businesses or all shapes and sizes, as long as they have been trading since at least April 2012.

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Fill out your nomination form online, or download it and send entries to Kate Wobschall, deputy editor, Reporter Series, 17 Wellington Road, Dewsbury, WF13 1HQ.

The closing date for nominations is August 31.

Tickets for the awards dinner cost £45 each – call Natalie Mitchell or Andrew Crabtree on 01422 260247.

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