On December 1st, five hundred of the county’s leading business people, including the Mayor of Brighton and Hove, gathered at The Grand to celebrate business excellence at the 28th Sussex Business Awards. Comedian Simon Evans presented the 17 awards, and winners were drawn from 42 finalists representing 27 Sussex towns.
The big winner of the night was Stelfox, who won International Business of the Year (sponsored by HSBC) and Best Employer (sponsored by Morgan Sindall).
The accolade of Company of the Year (sponsored by Mazars) was awarded to International Logistics Group (ILG), whilst last year’s winner of Small Business of the Year, Ridgeview Wine Estate, was named as ‘One to Watch’ in the International Business category.
A number of individual awards were presented to many well-known business faces, including Darren Fell, founder and CEO of the innovative Crunch Accounting, who was named Sussex Businessperson of the Year (sponsored by Heart FM).
Popular businessman Andy Cheesman from City Cabs received the award for Greatest Contribution to Sussex Charity (sponsored by The Argus). Andy sponsors a wide range of events including The Best of British, Paddle Round The Pier, Pride and Dragon Boat Racing, and works tirelessly behind the scenes to help others. He has also been a long-standing supporter of Downs View School, Downs View Link College and Chestnut Tree House.
Sussex Graduate of the Year is a brand new category for 2016 sponsored by the University of Sussex to recognise the achievements of graduates making impacts on Sussex businesses. This award was presented to Chris O’Hare, the MD of Hare Digital, a digital strategy company that he built completely from scratch and now employs 11 people.
Mike Herd, Executive Director of the Sussex Innovation centre and chairman of the judges commented: “This year was a record year! With the amount of entries received, the judging process proved a difficult task. The exceptional quality of the entries really shined through, and many worthy winners were chosen. Congratulations to all the winners!”
Other 2016 Sponsors included, Southern Rail, Vantage Professional Risks, Checkatrade.com, Sussex Innovation Centre, Checkaprofessional.com, Wealden District Council, Sussex Chamber of Commerce, Natures Way Food, Coffin Mew, Platinum Business and Title Sussex.
Follow the Sussex Business Awards on Twitter @SussexBizAwards
SUSSEX BUSINESS AWARDS
2016 WINNERS
The Best Place to Entertain Your Clients – Sponsored by Title Sussex
WINNER Sussex Cricket
FINALIST Blanch House
FINALIST Brighton Fringe
FINALIST East Sussex National
The Award for Healthiest Workplace – Sponsored by Natures Way Food
WINNER Legal & General
FINALIST European Recruitment
FINALIST Scout Shops Ltd
The International Business of the Year – Sponsored by HSBC
WINNER Stelfox
FINALIST Frontier Pitts
ONE TO WATCH Ridgeview Wine Estate
The Award for Leisure & Tourism – Sponsored by Southern Rail
WINNER The BaseSkate Park CIC
ONE TO WATCH Best of England
FINALIST Smart Performance
The Entrepreneur of the Year – Sponsored by Platinum Business Magazine
WINNER Neil Laughton, Laughton & Co Ltd
FINALIST Terry Nitman & Steve Hayman, Cheesmur Building Contractors
FINALIST Amber Rust, Bonieri
The Award for the Most Sustainable Business – Sponsored by Wealden District Council
WINNER Burleys
HIGHLY COMMENDED The Big Lemon
FINALIST Green Mop Ltd
The Responsible Business Award – Sponsored by Checkaprofessional.com
WINNER LoveLocalJobs.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED ILG
FINALIST Wave Leisure Trust
The Small Business of the Year – Sponsored by Sussex Chamber of Commerce
WINNER Boom Boom The Label
FINALIST Fundraising Auctions Ltd
FINALIST The Dental Barn Ltd
The Award for the Most Promising New Business – Sponsored by Coffin Mew
WINNER Opun
FINALIST The BaseSkate Park CIC
FINALIST SourcedBox
The Award for Innovation in Business – Sponsored by Sussex Innovation Centre
WINNER PULSE.AERO
FINALIST Curry Leaf Café
FINALIST TECO Building Products
The Award for Best Employer – Sponsored by Morgan Sindall
WINNER Stelfox
FINALIST Yelo Architects
FINALIST ILG
The Award for Best Customer Service – Sponsored by Checkatrade.com
WINNER The Dental Barn Ltd
FINALIST The Grand Brighton
FINALIST Welbeing
The Award for Professional Services – Sponsored by Vantage Professional Risks
WINNER Yelo Architects
ONE TO WATCH Robinson Low Francis
HIGHLY COMMENDED Juno Wealth Management
The Sussex Company of the Year – Sponsored by Mazars
WINNER ILG
FINALIST Crunch Accounting
FINALIST The Kitchen Store
FINALIST Newview Homes Ltd
FINALIST Cheesmur Building Contractors
The Sussex Graduate of the Year – Sponsored by University of Sussex
WINNER Chris O’Hare, Hare.Digital
HIGHLY COMMENDED Kate Wood, Brighton Fringe
FINALIST Matt Sears-Black, DMH Stallard
The Greatest Contribution to Sussex Charity – Sponsored by The Argus
WINNER Andy Cheesman, City Cabs
FINALIST Brighton & Hove Buses
FINALIST Carousel
The Sussex Businessperson of the Year – Sponsored by Heart FM
WINNER Darren Fell, Crunch Accounting
FINALIST Stephen Gaffer, Frontier Pitts
HIGHLY COMMENDED Rob Verheul, Graphite Digital
