West Berkshire Business Awards launch

The launch of the the West Berkshire Business Awards took place on Thursday 30 May at The Vineyard at Stockcross.

The event was attended by the event’s committee members, sponsors and Newbury MP Richard Benyon who gave a speech on why these events are important in the community and also presented Kennet School GCSE student, Harry Turley (pictured centre) with an award for creating the Business Award’s logo.

The awards aim to recognise the achievements of businesses in the local area whether they are a small start-up or a multi-national company. The award categories, which were chosen by the committee based on their relevance to the West Berkshire community, include The Action Coach Large Business Award, Energy and Environment Awareness Awards, and Best Independent Retail Business, as well as an award for the overall winner.

Awards co-founder Deborah Lester-George, who also owns event organising business DLG Events, commented “A lot of the events my company produce are big award dinners and every single industry and area has an award dinner except West Berkshire. As our MP said, it is a great area filled with incredibly talented people. If someone praises you and holds you up as someone to aspire to, that gives you the push to take on braver steps.”

The awards have been a year in the making and Deborah and the committee want to make it as easy as possible for business owners to enter, understanding that many will be very busy. Deborah said “We are trying to make the process very simple. We will do a lot of the leg work and will visit the companies who we think could be finalists. Out of those we will pick our top three.”

Deborah says they have already received a lot of feedback about the awards and if they are successful they plan to host them annually. Deborah added “I think having a business awards in West Berkshire shows that we are aware of our business community and appreciate it. I think it will bring to people’s attention the diversity and the success of the businesses in West Berkshire.”

Entries for the awards are now open and businesses can submit there applications online at www.westberkshirebusinessawards.co.uk. The closing date is September 30 and the awards ceremony will take place Friday 1 November at the Newbury Racecourse.