FORWARD planning is the key to success, according to the winner of the Business Start-Up category in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Business Festival Awards.

Whitefoot Forward is a document storage and record management company on the Hartlebury Trading Estate, near Droitwich.

Established in October 2001, the firm has grown so rapidly it moved to new premises three times the size of its original premises on its first anniversary.

"We have been able to develop by finding a market niche and offering a service that county businesses really needed," said Michelle Whitefoot, who runs the business with husband Michael.

Efficiency

"It's a business that helps other businesses improve their efficiency and cut costs."

The service is specifically for businesses, and includes "deep storage" for records that need to be stored but not accessed, and "daily retrieval", where information is delivered or faxed to clients each day.

Mr Whitefoot spent several years working for record management companies, including two of the "top three" national firms, before setting up the business.

"We could see where the failures could lie, and also the opportunities for making it better," said Mrs Whitefoot.

"We set ourselves quite an ambitious business plan and we've exceeded it.

"We plan to expand with a network of operations across the region."

Fantastic

She said winning the award had been "a fantastic finish to a fantastic first year".

"We are absolutely delighted to have won the award.

"Herefordshire and Worcestershire are such thriving counties, it's wonderful to receive this recognition.

"It's a really nice acknowledgement of all the hard work we've put in."