A BOLTON company won a prestigious North-west business award last night.

Indespension, which is based in Belmont Road, lifted the prize for between 51 and 250 employees in the 1996 Duke of Westminster Awards for Business and Industry.

The Awards dinner at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Midland Hotel, Manchester was attended by 350 key figures in the North-west business community.

Indespension, which manufactures trailers, was formed in 1967 and now employs more than 244 people.

The company is currently expanding into Europe and has 17 retail operations in the UK and Eire. The company's category two prize was sponsored by Addleshaw Sons and Latham. Wolstenholme Rink of Darwen, which is run by Bolton brothers Paul and Tony Rink, won the ICL-sponsored category three for companies with between 251 and 1,000 employees.

The company, which supplies printing materials and inks, has 625 workers, 375 of them in the North-west.

The KPMG Award for companies with more than 1,000 employees was won by Manchester Airport, which was recently voted "Best World Airport" in a survey.

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