Liverpool ECHO has launched its 2015 Regional Business Awards, drawing attention to the entrepreneurs and business talents from all over the Liverpool City Region.

The awards, which began in 1994, are free to enter and recognise the contributions of Merseyside businesses across 12 different categories. The winner of each of the award categories will be announced at a black tie dinner and awards ceremony at St George’s Hall on 18 June.

The award categories include:

• Newcomer of the Year: Open to businesses that began trading in Merseyside after January 1, 2013. The winner may be a new business or an established firm opening significant new operations in the region that can show their realisation of business aims.
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport Business of the Year (Up to 50 employees): Open to all business sectors, new or established, businesses with up to 50 people demonstrating all round business excellence can enter this category.
• MSIF Business of the Year (51-250 employees): Open to all business sectors, new or established, businesses with 51 – 250 employees demonstrating all round business excellence can enter this category. Judges will be looking for specific business achievements and a strong financial performance.
• KPMG Business of the Year (Over 250 employees): Open to all business sectors, new or established, businesses with 250+ employees demonstrating all round business excellence can enter this category. Judges will consider evidence of a strong financial performance, excellent business achievements, as well as contributions to local prosperity and other specific initiatives that make a business stand out from its peers.
• Lloyds Bank Manufacturer of the Year: This award is aimed at manufacturers demonstrating agile and lean productivity, as well as the ability to continue to apply new technologies and product innovation. The judges will be looking for evidence of this as well as effective supply chain management and a demonstration of responsiveness to changes in the industry.
• Jaguar Land Rover Corporate Social Responsibility Award: This award is for companies that strive to achieve a balance between competitive aims and the interests of society. This award will be presented to the private sector business or individual judged to have the best history of taking into account the effect of the business operations on the community and the economy. This can include companies that give time or money to charities or the voluntary sector.
• Investment of the Year: Companies demonstrating how their investment, since January 2011, has had a beneficial impact on business and the local economy can qualify for this award. Judges are searching to recognise and reward firms that are new to the region or existing businesses making fresh investments.
• International Trader of the Year: Traders demonstrating a substantial and sustained increase in international trading relative to the size of the company over the past 12 months are eligible for this award. The judges will be looking for evidence of the barriers that have been overcome and the degree to which a company’s overseas trade has benefited the regional economy.
• University of Liverpool Knowledge Business of the Year: The Knowledge Business of the Year category is open to any business engaged in the commercialisation of research and development of intellectual property, including pure sciences, technology, software or professional know-how, irrespective of size or stage of development. The judges will be looking for evidence of, or at least the clear potential for, profitable trading in the knowledge sector as well as a beneficial economic impact to the region.
• Creative Impact Award: This award is for companies with recent projects that have made a positive impact on their client’s businesses. This award recognises creative services businesses from the fields of advertising, design, architecture, film, photography, and digital publishing that can best demonstrate the positive impact of their services and projects to improving their clients’ businesses.
• Young Business Person of the Year: This award is for a business as a whole or one of a company’s employees able to demonstrate outstanding achievements in their chosen field. The young business person of the year will be aged 35 or under and will display excellent career progression, entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and management skills in a successful business.
• DLA Piper Business Person of the Year: This award is for stand out performance that puts an individual head and shoulders above their peers in terms of growing the reputation, not just of their organisation, but also for the region as a whole; showing the entrepreneurial spirit that typifies the region’s resilience and recent resurgence.

Liverpool ECHO editor Alastair Machray said:

“Last year we attracted a record number of entries, so this year we really want to take the Regional Business Awards to an even higher level and ask more of our business owners and companies to take part. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to recognise the people who generate the prosperity and create the jobs that drives our local economy.

“With the support of all our sponsors, we want to celebrate the entrepreneurs and businesses that are so vital to the future growth of our region.”

To download an entry form visit www.regionalbusinessawards.co.uk or, alternatively, email events@liverpool.com to request an entry form.

Completed entries are to be sent to events@liverpool.com or posted to

Echo Events Department

PO Box 48

Old Hall Street

Liverpool

L69 3EB.

The deadline for entries is midnight on Friday, March 13.

For further information about the awards evening, please contact the Echo Events Team on: 0151-472 2570. email: events@liverpool.com or Tweet: @RBA2015.

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Image Credit

Words: Peter Cribley