Finalists of the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2019 announced

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 25^th 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

• Nielsen
• Oodle Car Finance
• Abingdon and Witney College

The Oxford Science Park Innovation Award

• Fuel3D
• Exscientia
• Oxford Biomedica

The Oxfordshire LEP New Business Award

• Common Ground
• SWJ Consulting
• Sensyne Health

The Knights plc Small Business Award

• Imaginera
• High Spec Composites
• TOAD (The Oxford Artisan Distillery)

The NatWest Large Business Award

• Ridge & Partners LLP
• Planet IT
• Nicholson Nurseries

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

• Royal Cars
• Brethertons LLP
• Cognitant Group

The Oxford Times Charity & Community Award

• Transition by Design
• One-Eighty
• Witney Music Festival

The Heart Best Visitor Experience Award

• TOAD (The Oxford Artisan Distillery)
• Hook Norton Brewery
• Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens

The Brita Green Award

• Oxford Wood Recycling
• Restore
• Montala

The Syndicut Marketing Excellence Award

• Fuel3D
• Sesui
• Aston and James

The Bicester Village Retail Award

• Coles Books
• William Powell
• Loft

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