Back for a triumphant third year the Greater Manchester Business Awards are once again showcasing the very best of Greater Manchester’s business community. Organised by specialist conference organisers, innov8 Conference Services, the awards are set to highlight the hard work and entrepreneurship local businesses are delivering, taking a view that the Greater Manchester region is still the powerful centre for commerce in the Northwest.

The venue for the Awards has changed to the Imperial War Museum North, which will be a fantastic host for the main event on 8 February 2019. As media partners GM Business Connect are once again more than pleased to support the event, and indeed it is shaping up to be one of the pivotal dates in our portfolio of business activities, particularly fitting in with our mantra of ‘connecting’ businesses. The shortlist covers 12 categories:

Business of the Year (Under 10 Employees): Altrincham HQ, Amelia Rose Photography, Ashcosmetics
Business of the Year (Between 10-50 Employees): Active Flooring Solutions, Bring Digital, Jobwise Ltd, Matthews Environmental Solutions, Start People Ltd, The Mill Exchange
Business of the Year (Over 50 Employees): BJSS, Benchmark International, cartime, Equilibrium Asset Management, Purple WiFi Ltd, Verastar
Start-up Business of the Year (Under 2 years since formation): Beyond Professional Services Group, Blossom Wellbeing Cheshire, Forty3 Media
Customer Service Excellence Award (Under 10 Employees): Ashcosmetics, Hey There Little Princess, Lily Shippen
Customer Service Excellence Award (Between 10-50 Employees): Datacentreplus, Jobwise Ltd, Langley Interiors (PHL Design), Customer Service
Excellence Award (Over 50 Employees): Bridgewater Home Care Limited, Hotel Football, Shepherds Friendly Society
Corporate Social Responsibility Excellence Award: BJSS, Equilibrium Asset Management, Tropical Palms
Business Person of the Year: David Ingram, Mark Flanagan, Nicola Fleury
Young Business Person of the Year: Emma Rushworth, Yaseen Al-Basri
Employer of the Year: Aequitas Legal, Bridgewater Home Care Limited, Bring Digital Ltd
Equilibrium Asset Management, Jobwise Ltd, KidzRus Nursery Ltd
Entrepreneur of the Year: Danny Brooks, Matt Kay, Phil Eckersley, Wayne Coyle

Also released is a list of the eight judges this year:

Helen McHale
Helen has worked with many housing authorities before moving to Stockport in 2001. She set up Stockport Homes in 2005 and has grown the organisation by improving customer services, bringing more money into the Borough, delivering physical improvements to housing stock to become the largest developer of affordable housing in Stockport, employing 560 staff today.

Simon Edmondson
Simon is the Regional Chair of The Federation of Small Businesses for the North West of England having previously held the role of the Manchester Chair for over three years. He previously founded and grew Edmondson’s Surveyors which was sold as a successful business, and after that built up a successful catering company which was also sold 8 years ago.

Karen Garrattley
Karen is owner and Managing Director for COS Bookkkeeping, providing bookkeeping and training services for all major accounting packages. Karen is also Business Development Manager for Ralli Solicitors, and is active in promoting businesses across the Greater Manchester region.

Jon Cheetham
Jon is an independent marketing and design consultant specialising in printed marketing communications with a background working as an art director for some of the largest Northwest based advertising agencies over the years. He is also co-owner of GM Business Connect Magazine, and chairs the Greater Manchester Business Awards judging panel.

John Jones
John is Corporate and Forensic Partner at Beever and Struthers Chartered Accountants based in Manchester. He has also stood as pro-manchester Non-Executive Chairman, and previously held a role as Senior Manager at KPMG. John is active in business engagement across Manchester and has been an associate of K-Club private networking.

Tracey Rush
Tracey is a co-founder of AsOne Digital Business Development (recently acquired by London based Zoo Communications) and retains the role of Business Development Director for the company. Managing Director of the Digital Creative Network, and member of the Tameside Prosperous Board supporting business development. She continues to Mentor for the GM Business Growth Hub.

Matthew Kershaw
Matthew is currently Economic Development Officer at Tameside Council, and has been active in business development over the borough for many years. He previously held a position of Regional Manager for the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, responsible for member and stakeholder engagement across three boroughs of the region.

Nicola Buckley
Nicola is a previous winner of a Greater Manchester Business Award and is the owner and creator of Florence & Amelia’s vintage home and gift shop, which apart from offering gifts for sale hosts chalk paint and upcycling of furniture workshops to customers. Prior to opening the business she spent the majority of her professional life in a law firm in Manchester.