About the 2009 Essex Business Excellence Awards

The Essex Business Excellence Awards are organised by the Essex Chronicle Media Group in association with joint main sponsors Bird Luckin Chartered Accountants and Wollastons Solicitors. 2009 marks the twelfth year of the programme.

The awards are designed to recognise excellence, innovation, best practice and corporate and social responsibility in businesses right across the county.

Any business with a presence in the county, either in the public or private sector, is eligible to enter and there is no limit on the number of entries that can be submitted.

Categories are generally sub-divided into small/medium and large size divisions according to the number of employees/contractors that a company has at the discretion of the judges. There will normally be two finalists in each size division. Categories that recognise individual performance IE Outstanding Business Person and Young Entrepreneur of the Year are not sub-divided by company size and there will generally be three finalists.

Key dates

The closing date for entries is Friday May 29th. Those individuals and companies that make it through to the finals will be advised week commencing July 20th and each will receive two complimentary tickets to the event which will be held at Braxted Park near Witham on Friday September 18th.

Free publicity

Early Entrants

Several companies and individuals that enter before the end of April will be selected for special "early entrant" quarter page features with photographs in the Essex Chronicle and Brentwood Gazette completely free of charge.

Finalists

All finalists will be the subject of a quarter-page feature with photograph in a special "Meet the Finalists" publication going out week commencing August 17th. Finalists in each category will be grouped together on the same page. If a business or individual makes it through to the finals in more than one category they will be featured the appropriate number of times. Finalists will also be listed in the Roll of Honour on this awards web site.

Winners

All winners will appear in the "Meet the Winners" articles being published week commencing September 21st and again be listed in the Roll of Honour on the web site.

Choosing which category or categories to enter

A brief description of each of the categories can be seen under Categories and Judges, List of Categories to help you choose which ones you want to enter. You can then find detailed information in the various drop-down boxes under Individual Categories. You will find information about the category, what the judges are looking for, specific questions to answer and some details about the judges themselves. You will also find the names of the companies or individuals that won an award in 2008.

The Essex Business of the Year cannot be entered direct. The winner is chosen from within all the finalists at the discretion of the judges.