Fylde coast firms urged to enter business awards

The business competition for 2016 has been launched and there are 18 prizes up for grabs.

Once again the Blackpool Tower will host the glittering winners ceremony on September 16.

The North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the annual awards, will again be holding a boot camp event to prepare its applicants for its judging process.

It has assembled a team of experts to provide support at a session held at the Chamber’s Fylde Coast Office in Blackpool on March 4.

The training will be based upon research undertaken by the Chamber and experts at Lancaster University Management School to bench-mark the BIBAs against the leading business awards in the world. It will provide advice on how to make applications stand out from the competition and to prepare for two further rounds of judging which will take place before the awards’ winners are selected.

Adam Armstrong, transformation leader at the awards’ headline sponsor Saatchi and Saatchi, said he had been “inspired” by the businesses he met when he was judging the awards’ Business of the Year category in 2015.

He said: “Year after year, the BIBAs has raised the bar for Lancashire firms seeking to be recognised for their achievements. The calibre of firms I met last year were constantly evolving to meet the demands they face and, speaking with my fellow judges, I know this applied to every award category.

“I have no doubt the BIBAs will continue to challenge its applicants to raise their game to be named the very best of the best, and I have every confidence that the business community of Lancashire will respond.”

This year an extra category has been added - Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility, supported by the Community Foundation for Lancashire.

The full list of categories is: manufacturer of the year, employer of the year, exporter, service business, small business, new business, business person of the year, medium business, construction business, business of the year, micro business of the year, leisure business, legal practice, best use of information technology , creative agency of the year, excellence in corporate social responsibility, financial practice of the year and third sector business of the year.

Details at www.thebibas.co.uk.