By Matthew Legg Business editor

Last updated 09:20, Friday, 10 October 2008

ONE of Cumbria’s most prominent business figures has backed the county’s “world class” firms to survive the economic crisis.

John Hancock: ‘We have a much better chance of surviving this crisis than others elsewhere’

John Hancock, former managing director of Sealy United Kingdom, the Aspatria bed company, said our experience at overcoming setbacks like foot and mouth made us uniquely qualified to triumph in the current adversity.

Mr Hancock, a judge for the CN Group Business Awards 2008, got a first-hand glimpse at the strength of Cumbria’s business community when he sifted through the dozens of entries for the competition. He told The Cumberland News: “The quality of entries in all of the categories was excellent.

“It is very encouraging to see that Cumbria has so much diversity and strength in our businesses.

“Many of them are world class. They are so far up the league in terms of performance it is terrific.

“It made the job of the judges very difficult.

“There was no problem finding potential finalists, but it was almost impossible to choose between some of them,” he added.

“There is a strength in depth there that makes me very confident we can pull through the current tough times.

“We have had to battle through things in the past which have toughened people up.

“Things like foot and mouth have tested our resolve and we have come through to beat them. Our assumed remoteness here in Cumbria means we naturally have to fight harder than businesses in other parts of the country, particularly the south.

“We know we have to fight much harder for recognition and that steely determination will mean we have a much better chance of surviving this crisis than others elsewhere.

Mr Hancock is also a former non-executive director of CN Group, publisher of The Cumberland News, and of Dalston business Jacob Cowen.

He joined fellow judge Stuart Klosinski, industrial development manager for Furness Enterprise, to choose the finalists for the CN Group Business Awards 2008.

The judging process culminates in an awards ceremony at Rheged, Penrith, later this month.