Nominations Now Open!
1 Events Media, the host of the annual E3 Business Awards, has announced that nominations for the 2016 event are now open. There will be sixteen separate award categories and entries are encouraged from small and medium sized business, entrepreneurs, charities and social enterprises throughout the North West.
The Awards ceremony will take place at the Macron Stadium in Bolton on Friday 3rd June.
The 2015 event attracted a record number of nominations, with finalists coming from every county in the region – from Cumbria in the north to Cheshire in the south. The organisers hope to attract even more nominations this year and want to see greater representation on the part of rural businesses and other groups that are sometimes under-represented. 1 Events managing director Mubarak Chati explains:
“In 2015, we took account of feedback from visitors, finalists and judges by extending the number of award categories from 12 to 16. This was a good move because we had a huge surge in the number of nominations, and having more categories allowed us to showcase a much wider range of achievements.
“North West businesses are clearly achieving great things for communities and the regional economy, and the E3 Awards exist to celebrate that. The event grows every year and with the economy now improving, we’re expecting to see an even more impressive calibre of entries. That said, companies shouldn’t feel they need to be achieving headline-making sales in order to have a chance of winning; the E3 Awards are about Enterprise, Education and Employment – improving lives as well as balance books – so if businesses are doing something positive and unusual, we want to hear from them.”
The award categories for 2016 will include:
1. New Business Start up of the Year
2. Corporate Social Responsibility Award
3. Social Enterprise of the Year
4. Skills, Education & Training Award
5. Employer of the Year Award
6. Online Business of the Year
7. Young Entrepreneur of the Year
8. Outstanding Woman in Business
9. Green Business of the Year
10. Family Business of the Year
11. Professional Firm of the Year
12. Customer Service Award
13. Manufacturing Business of the Year
14. High Growth Business of the Year
15. International Business of the Year
16. Business of the Year
The E3 Awards are designed to promote diversity and to recognise the efforts of entrepreneurs not only from the British mainstream but from all parts of society.
“Each year, we try to reach out to a wider range of people,” said Mubarak Chati. “We want the E3 Awards to be truly representative of what’s happening across the region. Businesses that are growing and taking on new staff make a very valuable economic contribution so we definitely want to recognise that, but smaller businesses and charities also affect people’s lives in a variety of ways. Social responsibility, environmental sustainability, a commitment to developing new skills – these are all important to local communities, so our message is this: the E3 Awards are open to everyone. Regardless of location, age or industry, if you’re achieving positive things then we want to know about them.”
Candidates can nominate themselves or they may be nominated by others.