Mersey Maritime Industry Awards recognise excellence in a sector that across the Liverpool city region employs 28,000 people in 1,700 marine, logistics and energy businesses. Tony McDonough reports.

Mersey Maritime has revealed details for its Mersey Maritime Industry Awards (MMIA) 2017.

It has secured four ‘Diamond’ sponsors for the awards dinner, taking place on March 9 – Beech Group, Liverpool John Moores University, Peel Ports and Stream Marine Training.

The awards recognise excellence in a sector that across the Liverpool city region employs 28,000 people in 1,700 marine, logistics and energy businesses.

And its annual contribution of £3.4bn represents 13% of Merseyside’s GDP.

For the third year running law firm Hill Dickinson will be the drinks sponsor.

Chris Shirling-Rooke, Mersey Maritime chief executive, told YBnews: “Following on from the success of the two previous years, all the signs are that 2017 will be our best awards yet.

“We have already taken steps to move the awards dinner to a larger venue to accommodate demand for tables and we will have a larger number of categories.

“Between our first two events there was a 60% increase in entrants – and we are confident we’ll see a further increase this year.

“We are always particularly keen to encourage applications from the SME business community, as these make up around 85% of the sector.”

He added: “All tables released for sale so far have already sold out, so these awards represent a fantastic opportunity for businesses to showcase their services to their industry peers and for us to highlight Liverpool as the UK’s most confident, innovative and thriving maritime cluster.”

The applications process is now open, with entries already coming in. The deadline for applications is January 6.

Download an application form to enter the awards by .