Entries Are Now Open For The 2017 Swale Business Awards!

Written by Wesley Horan on 10th March 2017

On Tuesday 7^th March 2017, the Swale Business Awards began accepting postal and online entries for the eleventh annual awards. The launch was made official at an event that took place at the Guildhall, Queenborough, from 5pm onwards.

Over 70 local business people registered for the launch event, representing dozens of businesses from across the borough. Those in attendance had the opportunity to hear from Swale Business Awards judge Gavin Coleman of Handelsbanken about ways to make applications stand out from the crowd; as well as from Angela Croall of AngelsLocks and Dale Penfold of COOK, the 2016 Swale Business of the Year, both of whom discussed the application process and the positive effect entering had on their businesses.

Angela discussed how it felt to be named the 2016 Sheppey Business of Year and encouraged local businesses to enter and get involved. She commented:

“I would say that entering the awards two years in a row made me analyse my business and realise how far we had come from one year to the next. Sometimes you can be so busy working with in your business that you lose the focus needed to actually work on it to move it forward.

“I think that if you have a business that you are passionate about that you should let others know by entering the awards. I only became aware of how many amazing businesses there were around once I entered. Seeing them all and hearing their stories gives encouragement to others thinking of starting up a business as every single one starts with an idea form somewhere and it is such a positive way to get the message out that if you work hard at something it really can pay off.”

George Boddy from Thomson Snell and Passmore LLP will be one of the judges of the awards for the second year running. He spoke about his experience of judging the awards:

“Whilst my firm has sponsored the Swale Business Awards for seven years now, last year was my first opportunity to be on the panel of judges. It was a very interesting and enlightening experience and I met some fantastic businesses and incredibly passionate individuals along the way – all of which have growth aspirations that extend into Swale and beyond.”

If you would like to enter your business in the 2017 Swale Business Awards, you can do so by visiting http://www.swalebusinessawards.co.uk/enter-awards. Alternatively, if there is a local business you feel deserves to be recognised, you can nominate them by sending their name and email address to awards@swalebusinessawards.co.uk (please ask their permission first!)

The Swale Business Awards will be hosting another exclusive business event on 26th April from 5pm at Shepherd Neame. This event will feature a presentation from Phil Eckersley from the Bank of England about the macro and micro economic environment and should prove extremely insightful for local businesses. If you would like to book a place at this event, please email us.

Handelsbanken and Swale Means Business are the principal sponsors of the Swale Business Awards. The Swale Business Awards are sponsored by Checkmate, COOK Trading, CS One Design, Enterprise Centres, George Webb Finn, Kent Messenger, Kent Science Park, Macknade Fine Foods, Peel Ports - Medway, Shepherd Neame, Swale Borough Council, The Barnyard, The University of Greenwich, Thomson Snell & Passmore and UHY Hacker Young. If you would like to get involved with sponsoring the awards, please email sponsors@swalebusinessawards.co.uk.

You can view the full gallery of pictures from the evening here.