Finalists of this year’s prestigious county awards were announced, ahead of an awards evening on Friday 14 June.
Judges have selected finalists from businesses and organisations across the county for the 25th annual Oxfordshire Business Awards. Hundreds of people will attend the black-tie dinner, taking place for a second year at Oxford Brookes University’s John Henry Brookes Building, on Friday 14 June.
This year’s awards dinner will be organised and sponsored by 14 of the county’s leading organisations from across the business landscape. Finalists have been announced in 13 award categories, including Employer of the Year, Marketing Excellence and Best Visitor Experience. All of the finalists will be in the running to win The Hawkins Business of the Year Award.
Since it began in 1994, the OXBA has recognised the achievements of thousands of the county’s businesses, including accolades for new businesses, small businesses and the county’s larger businesses.
Now – a quarter of a decade on – the OXBA chairman hopes the event can continue to have a ‘positive impact’ on Oxfordshire’s business community, as well as helping to ‘promote excellence’ across all sectors.
Oxfordshire Business Awards Chair- Paul Lowe- said the following: ‘We would like to congratulate all of those shortlisted for an award at this year’s OXBAs. ‘For 25 years, the Awards have championed businesses and those individuals who have made a positive impact in Oxfordshire. ‘Winning an OXBA brings genuine recognition and acknowledgment amongst peers, so we wish all of those shortlisted the best of luck.’
Nigel Tipple, Chief Executive of OxLEP– sponsor of the New Business Award, said the OXBA reflects the county’s thriving business community – in particular small businesses, or ‘SMEs’. Mr Tipple said: “Small businesses are the backbone of any economy and that’s particularly the case in Oxfordshire.
“Across the county, we have seen around 50,000 new jobs created between 2012 and 2017, with small businesses responsible for a considerable number of these – nationally, over 99 per cent of the UK’s 5.7million businesses are classified as ‘small’ employing a total of 16.1 million people.
“With this in mind, the OXBA is an opportunity to celebrate ‘business’ and the impact it makes, not only to our economy, but also the professional opportunities companies create for thousands of people on a daily basis.”
Finalists were announced as follows:
The Hays Employer of The Year Award
The Oxford Science Park Innovation Award
The Oxfordshire LEP New Business Award
The Knights plc Small Business Award
The NatWest Large Business Award
The Shaw Gibbs Young Business Person of The Year Award
- Dan Weston, Mathews Comfort Financial Services
- Toby Crawford, Imaginera
- Sarah Jaycock, High Spec Composites
The CIS Technology Excellence Award
The Oxford Times Charity & Community Award
The Heart Best Visitor Experience Award
The Brita Green Award
The Syndicut Marketing Excellence Award
The Bicester Village Retail Award
The Shaw Gibbs Business Person of The Year Award
- Daniel Geoghegan, Bicester Heritage
- Paul Drayson, Sensyne Health
- Paul Morrow, British Bakels
For a full description of the award categories and more information on the Awards evening, go to: www.oxfordshirebusinessawards.co.uk