The 2018 Swale Business Awards are officially underway!

Written by Wesley Horan on 30th March 2018

The 2018 Swale Business Awards are now accepting entries for the twelfth annual awards.

The 2018 awards kicked off on Wednesday 28th March with a packed launch event at Shepherd Neame’s Old Brewery Store, with over 90 local business people in attendance.

Those in attendance had the opportunity to hear from Swale Business Awards judge Gavin Coleman of Handelsbanken about the application process and ways to make their applications stand out from the crowd. Gavin was followed by Bruce Bell of Gallery Direct, the 2017 Swale Business of the Year. Bruce discussed how simple the application process was and encouraged everyone to apply to raise the profile of their businesses.

There was then an informative talk from Phil Eckersley of The Bank of England, who discussed the macro and micro economic environment, including the Bank’s latest forecasts for UK GDP and Inflation, commentary on the international outlook and an analysis of the domestic economy.

After the talks, attendees were treated to a selection of sumptuous food and beer pairings from Shepherd Neame and had the opportunity to network with judges and fellow Swale Businesses.

Alex Whitmey, of William Whitmey Independent Funeral Directors is one of the 2018 sponsors and was in attendance at the event. He discussed his experience of the awards: “The networking opportunities are great, mixing with other businesses and finding common pros and cons. As a business owner I cant understand why every Swale business doesn’t get involved, it’s free, the entry process is uncomplicated and very straight forward, there is fantastic media coverage and you get plenty of opportunities to demonstrate what you do and speak passionately about the work you do. The Swale Business Awards are well organised and publicised and is the perfect local event to celebrate business achievements.”

If you would like to enter the awards, you can do so here. This year there is also the facility to nominate businesses that you feel deserve to be recognised.

Handelsbanken and Swale Means Business are the principal sponsors of the 2018 Swale Business Awards. The Swale Business Awards are sponsored by ArrivaClick, C & D Logistics South East, Checkmate, COOK Trading, CS One Design, Enterprise Centres, Gallery Direct, George Webb Finn, Invicta Financial Group, Kent Event Centre, Kent Science Park, MediChem, Shepherd Neame, Swale Borough Council, Thomson Snell & Passmore, UHY Hacker Young, University of Greenwich and William Whitmey Independent Funeral Directors.

You can view all the pictures from the launch event here.