Bury St Edmunds-based Abbeycroft Leisure won two prizes at the Haverhill Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2011 on Saturday 14 May.

Abbeycroft, a leisure trust and social enterprise, won Large Business of the Year and Marketing Strategy of the Year at the event held in front of 250 guests at Chilford Hall in Linton. The trust, which manages both Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centres in Suffolk in partnership with St Edmundsbury Borough Council, delivers much of the Sports Development and outreach work in the area.__The Large Business of the Year Award is presented to an organisation that is still growing and developing. The judges said of Abbeycroft: "The business shows a high commitment to the region and demonstrates confidence in its current expansion."

For the Marketing Strategy of the Year Award Abbeycroft was judged to be "outstanding with well documented and executed procedures in place."

Warren Smyth, Chief Executive of Abbeycroft Leisure, said: "We are surprised and delighted to received these awards. They are a very good measure of how Abbeycroft is developing and it is great to see that as a social enterprise we can compete with traditional businesses. It is a fantastic achievement to win two awards and I'd like to thank all our staff who work so hard on a daily basis to ensure our success."

In May 2010 Abbeycroft Leisure, which runs Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centres, was only the second organisation in Suffolk to receive the Social Enterprise Mark and only one of six leisure trusts in the UK. Michele Rigby, CEO of Social Enterprise East of England, was among the guests who watched as Abbeycroft collected their awards.

She said: "Social enterprises contribute £8.4 billion per year to the UK economy, making a profit to make a difference to their local communities. Abbeycroft Leisure shows how social enterprise competes with traditional business models in producing outstanding work. We are so proud to have members like Abbeycroft Leisure in SEEE, and warmly congratulate the staff on their awards."