In a week when people are still debating the merits of the latest winner of The Apprentice in the UK, to have Lord Sugar's aid Karren Brady singing your praises is no bad thing.

That's exactly the reward bestowed upon Cirencester based Neon Play, which was named as the top start-up at Nectar's Small Business Awards 2011.

Taking home £2,000 and 50,000 Nectar points for its troubles, Neon Play was praised for the potential it has shown in its first 12 months trading.

Nectar for Neon

"Neon Play was the outstanding candidate in the start-up of the year category," said awards judge Brady, who also serves as vice chairman at West Ham United.

"With excellent growth in its first year, and a clear strategy for development over the forthcoming years, the future looks bright for the firm."

It's an accolade Neon Play CEO Oli Christie is naturally keen to celebrate.

"This is a great award and a huge pat on the back not only for the team, but also for the UK's growing app economy," said Christie.

"This is a new, exciting market that is moving fast and we are competing with some large and well-funded global games developers. Hopefully making mobile apps will be recognised as an important export industry both in terms of getting tax breaks and increasing app developer skills.

"There is still a long way to go, but for a mobile games studio to win a prestigious award from Nectar is a huge boost and we are absolutely thrilled with the prize money, Nectar points and recognition."

The studio recently passed the 20 million downloads mark on iOS and Android, having previously cleared its first 10 million in 10 months.

[source: Neon Play]