The winners of the 2019 Somerset Business Awards were announced on Friday, 25 October, at a glittering black-tie event at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, in Weston-super-Mare.
Nearly 400 business people from across Somerset attended the gala evening, which was organised by Somerset Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Somerset cricket legend Peter Trego.
The 2019 finalists came from all corners of the county, from Bridgwater, Taunton, Frome, Axbridge, Evercreech, Edington, Wheddon Cross and Wincanton, to Wellington, Sparkford, Shepton Mallet, Roadwater, Watchet, Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil, Glastonbury, Congresbury and Highbridge.
This year was the 15th anniversary of the awards and Somerset Chamber Chief Executive Stephen Henagulph thanked everyone who had entered: “I am extremely proud of our county’s businesses; we were all blown away by the quality of the entries and what Somerset’s businesses are achieving and producing.
“It was fantastic to be able to honour winners and finalists from all corners of the county and from a wide range of sectors and industries. Thank you to everyone who entered the awards and thank you to our judges and sponsors who continue to make these the biggest and best business awards in Somerset.”
It was the 10th year main sponsor Albert Goodman had supported the awards and Managing Partner Richard Bugler said it was an honour to be celebrating the very best businesses in Somerset.
“Businesses are the lifeblood of this county. There is a lot to be gloomy about at the moment, but despite all this the Somerset business community continues to do what it does best,” Mr Bugler said.
Medium Business of the Year (sponsored by BT):
Winner – Sycamore Process Engineering Limited, Sparkford
The runners-up were: PRM Waste Systems Ltd, Wellington and Somerdale International, Wellington
The Business of the Year Awards look for the “wow factor” in companies, delivering the full package and more. The winning businesses demonstrate how they stand out from the crowd in areas such as ambition, profitability, growth, sound business planning, customer satisfaction and management of people. The medium business category is for businesses with between ten and 50 staff. It was presented by Paul Coles, English Regions Director, of BT.
The award was accepted by Jerry Redman and Joe Routledge. Mr Redman said: “This is amazing, thank you to all the judges and those who encouraged us to enter the awards. Running a business is risky, daunting, scary, but when you get it right it can be an amazing thing. This is for all our workers at Sycamore.”
