Nearly 300 people attended the gala ceremony to celebrate the business achievements of the Blackmore Vale and the surrounding area.

At the launch of this year’s awards, Clair Pengilly, Publisher at Blackmore Vale Media and originator of the business awards, said: “Entries in previous years have been truly inspiring. When I started the awards four years ago I had no idea that they would be so successful in promoting the work of businesses in the area. “We believe that it is important to recognise the contribution of businesses to the local economy, which is why the awards were started. “Our vision is to continue to reveal and celebrate excellence and achievement. We want to bring together companies and individuals with similar attitudes, to build and strengthen relationships in the local business community. “Once again we have managed to collect a range of sponsors who want to play their part in celebrating our business community. We are very grateful for their continued support. The role of the sponsors is crucial as without them these awards could not happen.”

At the event BV Dairy was awarded the Blackmore Vale Business Awards 2015 Silver Business of Excellence title.

MD, Jim Highnam (left), collecting the Silver Business of Excellence Award from the sponsor, Anthony O'Hara. — MD, Jim Highnam (left) collecting the Silver Business of Excellence Award from the sponsor, Anthony O’Hara.

This awards aims to recognise and reward business excellence across all sectors, private, public and charity. All businesses entering this award had to have been established for 25 years or more and was open to organisations of any size; entries were encouraged from those that felt they are working smarter than their competitors to create a business edge.