FOLLOWING a successful launch last year, plans are already in hand for the second SME Northamptonshire Business Awards.
Business Times and Stanair Industrial Doors are again headline sponsors, while category sponsor Chelton Brown has already committed to supporting the awards in 2017. New sponsors already on board include the legal firm Borneo Martell Turner Coulston, which has offices in Northampton, Kettering and Market Harborough, and SilverDisc, who will be sponsoring the Business of the Year – Over 50 Employees award.
The awards represent an opportunity to support and raise the profile of industrious, hardworking and enterprising SMEs in the county.
Northamptonshire is home to a wide spectrum of businesses in a range of sectors, with smaller companies being the lifeblood of the county, often working alongside and complementing the major players.
The 2017 SME Northamptonshire Business Awards are open to any business with fewer than 250 employees. Categories include, among others, Best New Business, Business Person of the Year, Training and Development, Apprentice of the Year, Employee of the Year and Networking Group of the Year, and each business is eligible to enter up to three categories.
Julie Barnes-Ward, Publisher of Business Times, said: “The first awards were an amazing success and we are only too happy to be supporting them again this year as headline sponsor. There was a magnificent response from local businesses, particularly as it was the first year, and we know it can only become bigger and better.”
Martin Wall, Director of Stanair, said: “We’re always keen to support awards and to recognise the strengths of the local business community and the SME Awards did that perfectly. Considering it was the first year, the quality of the entrants was excellent and the awards evening itself was a massive success.”
Sali Brown, from Chelton Brown, said: “We sponsored the Customer Service Award last year because that’s something that is very important to us. It was a pleasure to be there on the evening and present the award, and enjoy the company of other businesses, all showing Northamptonshire businesses at their best.”
To find out more about sponsorship opportunities, or how to enter the awards, visit www.northamptonshireawards.co.uk