Welsh retailer, Leekes Retail and Leisure Group has been awarded Medium/Large Finance Team of the Year in the second annual Finance Awards Wales.

The family-run independent business was presented with the accolade during a ceremony held at Cardiff’s City Hall on Friday, April 5 and hosted by Timothy Rhys-Evans MBE.

Based in South Wales, Leekes has more than 120 years of trading history. The business operates four home department stores in Bilston in the West Midlands, Llantrisant, near Cardiff, Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire and Melksham, Wiltshire. It also has a builder's merchant in Tonypandy, in the Rhondda Valley where the business started, and operates a transactional website at leekes.co.uk and a conservatory and windows site at leekeswindows.co.uk.

In addition, Leekes operates three concessions within garden centres, selling conservatories, orangeries, windows and doors. These are located at Wyevale Garden Centre outlets in Thornbury,  Swindon and Hereford.

Finance Awards Wales managing director Matthew Hyde said of the company’s win: “Finance Awards Wales celebrates the talented finance professionals of Wales and recognise the crucial role they play in the Welsh economy and in the organisations they represent. The standard and number of entries exceeded expectations and those who walked away with their awards are deserved winners.

“After a thorough and detailed interview process, the Leekes Retail and Leisure Group was announced as winner of this category, and feedback from the judges included exceptionally positive comments about how the team successfully manage to deal with complex issues across the group’s business.”

Leekes Retails Limited financial director Mike Fowler, who picked up the award on the night, commented: “We were delighted to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award, but to win this award is such a fantastic achievement to the team as a whole. We have worked extremely hard over the past 12 months to maintain the highest standards that we strive for as a business, and to be recognised by industry experts as the Best Finance Team in a medium and larger business truly demonstrates the hard work we have put in.”