Business Excellence Awards run throughout New Zealand at this time of year. The Northland competition kicked off this evening with a cocktail function at the Salut Bar in Whangarei – and the Elevate CA team were there along with the entrants, sponsors and a who’s who of local business. This year there were 42 entrants competing in ten categories:
Best Emerging Business
Excellence in Building / Construction
Excellence in Technology / Innovation
Excellence in Business
Excellence in Professional Services
Excellence in Retail
Excellence in Tourism
Best Small Business
Workplace Safety Award
Customer Choice Award.
Conspicuous by its absence in the above list is a category for “Excellence in Exporting”. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great businesses amongst the entrants which bring foreign revenue into the region, such as Dive Tutukaka, Shopenzed.com or Magnetism Solutions. But my own belief is that the process of generating foreign revenue for Northland is worthy of celebration in a category of its own. After all, the region cannot prosper by being populated only by great local businesses providing fantastic goods and services to each other!
That comment aside, the upcoming finals will be a great celebration of the success and excellence of Northland business. The function will be at the Thirty3 Events Centre in Whangarei on 9 October – and this year it will have a medieval theme, which might be a little unusual. But with the team at Identity Developments managing the occasion, it will be a great night.
Last year the Northland finalists were announced at the opening cocktail function, but this year that announcement has been delayed, presumably so ticket sales to the supporters of the unsuccessful entrants aren’t compromised by an early announcement. So we still don’t know who will be on the podium on 9 October competing for their category and the overall silverware.
This will be a big night for Northland business. The Elevate CA team will be there – and we’ll look forward to seeing you on the night to celebrate and support this year’s batch of Business Excellence Award winners who are doing the Northland region proud.
Fraser Hurrell is one of three directors of Elevate CA Limited, Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in Whangarei, New Zealand.
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