The News Business Excellence Awards are run in conjunction with Business Link, whose regional chairman, Phil Wilding, has urged companies to get involved.

He said: 'I thought it was a great (awards] night just to see everyone so excited as businesses. You don't often get the opportunity as a business to get involved in something like this. It was like playing a game because the businesses that were participating had a lot of adrenalin.

'They were all sitting on the edge of their seats, and the winning business was so excited. It's important to enter because when you are a business you don't always know how well you are doing compared with the competition because it's about profits and percentages.

'If you win people will be looking at you and saying "You are the best in the business".'

Winning company Market Makers, which took home the prestigious award of Business of the Year at Portsmouth Guildhall in January, took 13 of its team to represent the business as a morale-boosting exercise, and is now urging other companies to get involved.

Managing director Paul Thomas said: 'It was great to take the key people in the business who had worked hard. It was great to go there for a dinner and to be surrounded by a lot of successful businesses and for us - my operations director Henry Braithwaite and myself – it was a thank-you for their work.

'To be shortlisted was excellent and to win on the night was even better. The reason I would urge people to take part is it gives suppliers the confidence to think "If you are the Business of the Year then you must be doing something right".'


The News is running the awards in association with Business Link, which can be contacted for impartial business advice on 0845 600 9006 or via www.businesslinkhampshireiow.co.uk


The format for the 2007 awards remains the same, with eight judged awards and a ninth, awarded at the judges' discretion, for Lifetime Achievement.

Category sponsors remain the same as for the 2006 contest except for Achiever of the Year, which this year is sponsored by specialist financial recruitment company Robert Half, which has a branch in King's Road, Southsea.

To download an application forms, click on the category llinks below.

The categories are:

Business of the Year
sponsored by Portsmouth Property Association




Small Business of the Year
sponsored by the University of Portsmouth




Business Personality of the Year
sponsored by Lambert Smith Hampton





Team of the Year
sponsored by NatWest




Achiever of the Year
sponsored by Robert Half





Community Contribution of the Year
sponsored by EADS Astrium





Exporter of the Year
sponsored by Hampshire County Council





Innovation of the Year
sponsored by Parallel Business Centre


Lifetime Achievement (judges' discretion)
sponsored by Coffin Mew LLP.