Sunderland-based Portfolio business awards backer ARTventurers who can't wait to celebrate this year's winners

Fiona Simpson, the founder of Sunderland-based ARTventurers, told how she was ‘thrilled’ to be supporting this year’s Portfolio Awards search to find the cream of Wearside and County Durham industry.

This year's competition is the first to be held since the pandemic struck and they will be back with a ceremony on November 4 at the Stadium of Light.

Now in their 15th year, the Sunderland Echo is proud to present the Portfolio Business 2021 Awards which are a celebration of excellence within the business sector.

Sunderland City Council is once again the headline sponsor and we are also delighted to welcome on board ARTventurers , Gentoo, the Autism Society, Station Taxis, Bradley Hall, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, Thompson Waste Management, Sunderland College, University of Sunderland, NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group, and the North East Business and Innovation Centre in Sunderland.

ARTventurers is a Sunderland based business which delivers colourful art classes, events and parties for babies, toddlers and children.

It does it through a network of franchise branches across the UK, including two in the city of Sunderland and several more in the North East.

The company was founded in 2010 by local mum of two Fiona Simpson, who was named Business Woman of the Year at the Wearside Women in Business Awards 2019.

ARTventurers is one of the sponsors of this year’s Portfolio awards, having previously been an award winner in 2017 when they were named Small Business of the Year.

Fiona said: “We are thrilled to be supporting the 2021 Portfolio Awards as one of the ceremony sponsors,

"We have a fantastic and thriving business community here in the city and these awards are a great opportunity for us all to come together and reflect on our achievements.

"And of course this year’s awards are particularly special, after a year when businesses have been impacted so much by the pandemic and have shown such creativity and resilience in the face of adversity. We can not wait to celebrate these amazing successes on the night.”

The competition is now closed to entries and the shortlist in each category will be decided upon soon.

Read more: Your memories of Hills bookshop in Sunderland, as we mark 15 years since in closed

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