Finalists named as night of prizegiving draws closer
The shortlist for the 2009 Business Excellence Awards has been announce - with a bumper crop of finalists this year.
Judges heaped praise on the remarkable array of entries to this year's ceremony, scheduled to take place in late January.
The judging panel was made up of veteran business brain and former Enterprise Agency boss Tim Austin, chamber chief executive Maureen Frost, editor of The News, Mark Waldron, business reporter Adam Kula and Chas Morrison from sponsor Business Link.
The five-strong panel was also joined by a representative of the sponsor of each category.
Mr Morrison said in some respects this year was the strongest yet.
'The overall standard continues to improve,' he said. 'We might have had fewer people in some categories, but the quality was definitely there.
'In some of the categories the final decision was very tight. The other noticable thing was there were a lot of new names, some new blood.
'Some of the categories had some of the best standard we've seen in the last five years. There was stuff we just hadn't seen before. It was a good year, especially considering the overall economic climate.
'It's encouraging to see so many willing to put themselves forward who are actually doing well in their chosen fields.'
Tim Austin, who is to bow out as a judge of the awards this year, said he was leaving the panel on a high note.
He said: 'I did think the quality of what we were seeing was surprisingly high given this alleged recession we're supposed to be experiencing. It's just a pity we can't give away more awards.
'It's always a really exciting evening. And people, even if they don't win, they're happy that someone else has.'
As well as many new faces, some of last year's high-fliers will once again be entering the breach.
Business of the Year runner-up Burgess Marine will be trying out for Best Exporter this year around.
And can Apollo Fire Detectors win Best Exporter a third year running? Find out on January 28.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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