It will be a night of celebration and support, when the who’s who of the Hunter’s business community gather for the 2018 Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards.
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After another year of hard work and long hours, the finalists have been announced and those who are the backbone of local business will assemble at Club Maitland City on September 21 to acknowledge their peers.
The Hunter Region Business Hub’s general manager Kerry Hallett said 19 trophies will be handed out on the evening, including the major awards: Business of the Year, Business Leader of the Year, Business Woman of the Year and Young Entrepreneur.
The evening’s emcee will be Debbie Barwick, chairperson of the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce.
Guest speaker at the gala event will be self-made businessman turned corporate high flyer Kyle Loades, who is the chairperson of Hunter Medical Research Institute, former chair of the NRMA and founder of Auto Advantage.
“Mr Loades will speak on the experiences he has had in his different roles and also what he sees coming for the future of business and how you can adapt,” Ms Hallett said.
In the last 25 years, the Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards have become an important symbol of success, one which local businesses aspire to receive.
The nomination process also provides participating businesses with a means to measure improvement and plan for future success.
“For those businesses involved, these awards give them the opportunity to showcase and review their operations: to think about things they have done which were great and also the challenges they faced,” she said.
For some businesses, especially those just starting out, a win in these awards delivers marketplace respect, often cementing their place as a legitimate enterprise.
Each of this year’s 100 nominees completed a robust application which is essentially based upon a business plan. Applications are vetted by judges and candidates also received a visit or phone call from a mystery shopper judge who evaluates the customer experience.
“Judges assess the customer service, knowledge, presentation of personnel and premises, and the effectiveness of the website to try and pick out the best people in each category and then the Business of the Year,” Ms Hallett said. “This is not a popularity contest, winners are chosen based on their business credentials.”
Award winners also receive a terrific boost.
“Being acknowledged by your business peers as being the best at what you do, is a tremendous boost to the staff that work long days. These awards will lift the spirits of all. It’s also recognition that you have a winning formula that may be hard to beat,” a previous winner said.