C&J Heating has been crowned Stevenage Business of the Year at the 2015 Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Hertfordshire Business Awards.

The Stevenage-based business is run by father and son entrepreneurs Nigel and Lewis Howard.

HVP revealed earlier this month that C&J Heating had been shortlisted for the award.

The company has been recognised for a number of achievements including a turnover increase of 50% in the last 12 months, overcoming stiff competition to win national heating contracts, and becoming the face of the ‘Smart Installers Club’ for marketing agency HomeServe Alliance.

Lewis Howard, director of C&J Heating, said: “We are over the moon to win Stevenage Business of the Year at this year’s FSB awards and would like to thank our employees and customers for all of their support.

“The FSB awards are all about recognising SMEs and the hard work and dedication we put in every day. The big players often get all the credit in the heating industry, so it is great to be able to fly the flag for the smaller heating businesses across the country.”

Mr Howard sits on the British Standards Committee and has recently been appointed as an area board member of the Federation of Master Builders.