Thursday, August 11th, 2011

The first sponsors to sign up for the Western Morning News Business Awards can now be revealed.

The awards, which opened for nominations last week, will be held on November 17, during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Viridor and First Great Western will be supporting the awards with the former sponsoring the Best Green Achievement award and the latter sponsoring the Customer Service category.

Mark Hopwood, managing director of First Great Western, said: “First Great Western is delighted to be sponsoring the Customer Service Award in this first year of the Western Morning News Awards. Great customer service is essential. We have invested in our colleagues to make sure our customers experience a consistently high standard of service. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to say well done to another local business that has shone in customer excellence.”

Richard Jenkins, Viridor’s regional director for the South West, said: “Viridor has its roots firmly in the Westcountry, so we recognise the region as an important centre for business and employment. We wanted to get involved in the business awards to help showcase the people and organisations who are putting the South West on the map.

“The recycling industry is at the centre of many of the key environmental issues of the moment, so sponsoring the Green Achievement Award was an opportunity for us to celebrate those businesses who are developing their own green initiatives and demonstrating excellence in sustainable operating.”

There are 14 awards and nominations can be made at www.wmnbusinessawards.co.uk.

Categories are: Business of the Year; Small Business of the Year; Customer Service Award; Employer of the Year; Excellence in Marketing Award; Best Tourism or Hospitality Business; Green Achievement Award; Best Creative Award; Best Business Support Through Mentoring or Education; Innovation of the Year; Best Business Start Up; Lifetime Achievement Award; Young Businessperson of the Year; Best Not For Profit Enterprise.

An awards dinner will be held on November 17 at St Mellion International, in Cornwall.

Companies based in the WMN circulation area of Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset and Dorset are eligible to enter. The deadline for entries is September 9. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Email pnewman@swmg.co.uk.

THE EVENT

The Western Morning News held its first ever Business Awards during Global Entrepreneurship Week on November 17 2011 at St Mellion International Resort in Cornwall. More than 320 people from across the business community joined us to celebrate the success of Westcountry businesses and individuals. Winners were presented with a unique award designed by students of University College Falmouth. For a list of the winners please click here  [gallery]...

Read more about the event