The quest to find this year’s cream of regional commerce is coming to an end

The quest to find this year’s crème de la crème of regional commerce is coming to an end.

Organisations have just days left to take part in the East Midlands Chamber’s Business Awards – the only annual industry honours where submissions are judged purely by corporate peers.

And they are the only county-by-county accolades that offer winners a chance to compete on the national stage of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Awards.

The winner of the 2017 East Midlands Chamber Nottinghamshire Outstanding Growth Award – iCON Aerospace Technology, of Retford – went on to win the BCC High Growth Business of the Year Award for increasing turnover by 30% and creating 150 jobs in two years.

The company is a world leader in highly-engineered products utilising polymers in sealing, containment, propulsion and protection systems worldwide.

Scott Knowles, the Chamber’s Chief Executive, said:-

“You can’t overestimate the value of taking part in awards. They make organisations focus on what they do best, offer opportunities for outward promotion, raise the kudos of the firm and make employees more proud to belong to the organisation. It’s win-win at every level.

“The Chamber’s Business Awards are one of the most contested and prestigious awards programmes and the only ones that offer winning businesses on a county-wide basis the chance to compete on a regional and national scale.”

Organisations can enter as many awards categories as they like. The categories for each of the three counties are Apprentice of the year, Business Improvement Through Technology, Commitment to People Development, Community Impact, Education and Business Partnership, Entrepreneur of the Year, Excellence in Customer Service, Excellence in International Trade, Manufacturer of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Outstanding Growth and Small Business of the Year.

One of the category winners in each county will also win the Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Mazars, one of Europe’s largest accounting firms and headline sponsor of the Chamber’s awards programme.

The deadline for entries to this year’s awards is 5pm on Friday 18 May. For further details and to download county-specific application forms visit http://www.emc-dnl.co.uk/businessawards.

The Chamber will host gala dinners in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire in the autumn at which the awards will be presented.

Winners of specific awards from each county will go forward to the BCC regional awards for a chance to compete for a national accolade.