Female Founder Scoops Top SME Award

Amidst Marketing Spend Boom, Branding Agency, Creative Stripes, Wins Best Enterprising Business at Hertfordshire SME Awards

Watford, 22nd October – The prestigious Chamber of Conscience SME Hertfordshire Business Awards has awarded the Best Enterprising Business 2024 prize to Creative Stripes, a branding and design agency founded by businesswoman Lydia Berman and headquartered in Hemel Hempstead.

The award, sponsored by Watford Borough Council, recognises Creative Stripes’ unique approach to marketing and design, particularly its commitment to helping fast-growth local businesses such as Lussmans Restaurants, as well as supporting neurodiversity and adaptable business strategies.

Recognising Creative Stripes for its innovative products, services, and support mentoring, the award also celebrated the company’s work with Notting Hill Genesis in supporting aspiring entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Unlike most marketing firms, Creative Stripes also supports startups from their business idea, making marketing and business planning affordable and accessible. One of its tools for this is a range of innovative visual products, called Mapper Cards, which are particularly useful to neurodiverse business leaders. About 1 in 7 people in the UK are neurodiverse and approximately 25% of CEOs are dyslexic. These visual business tools are rare, but vital.

The regional win automatically enters Creative Stripes into the national finals, meaning that Berman’s business could be crowned a UK winner in the December 2024 ceremony at Wembley stadium .

Lydia Berman, founder of Creative Stripes, said: “We won on our fifth anniversary so this is a brilliant birthday present. Regional and local awards play a key role in fostering entrepreneurship in the UK, helping businesses like ours grow and reinvest. Their support enables us to take risks and create jobs, which is vital for the local economy.”

Awarding the win to a branding firm comes at a time when marketing spend is shifting away from short term discounts and offers towards longer term brand building. The recent IPA Bellwether Report notes that while short-term promotional spend is still important, brands are investing more in creative brand storytelling, which is expected to pay off in the long term.

Now in its fifth year, Creative Stripes has consistently pushed the boundaries of traditional marketing agencies. Founded by Lydia Berman, Creative Stripes has made waves in the local business community with its Mapper Cards and tailored marketing strategies that cater to the diverse needs of entrepreneurs.

For more information about Creative Stripes and their services, visit www.creativestripes.co.uk.