FOLLOWING a record number of entries from over 100 companies, the judges of the Somerset Business Awards 2015 have spent weeks visiting companies of all sizes before selecting the finalists for each category.

The chosen firms will find out if they will be crowned the winners at an exclusive black tie celebratory dinner at Wellsprings Leisure Centre in Taunton next month.

Richard Bugler, partner at Albert Goodman, the awards main sponsor, said: "The standard of entries to the Somerset Business Awards never fail to impress us and the fact that there have been more entries than ever before is testament to the excellent business happening in Somerset.

"It has been inspiring visiting all the shortlisted businesses and they should feel proud to have got this far – we look forward to celebrating with them in October.”

Working together with Bridgwater College, the finalists will now be filmed by their media students to create a short film about the business and what winning means to them.

This will be shown on the awards night and will form part of the students’ final course results.

The awards are sponsored by a variety of Somerset businesses from the county’s vibrant business community.

 

 

 

Full list of award finalists (in alphabetical order):

Albert Goodman Family Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Albert Goodman LLP.

*Holiday Resort Unity.

*Sarah Hodge Hairdressers.

*Spillers of Chard Ltd.

 

Business of the Year 1-10, sponsored by Yeovil College.

*AB Heritage.

*Southwest Digital Systems Ltd.

*Transolva Ltd.

 

Business of the Year 11-25, sponsored by A.C. Mole & Sons.

*Red Berry Recruitment Ltd.

*Somerdale International Limited.

*Teapot Creative Ltd.

 

Business of the Year 26-50, sponsored by EDF Energy.

*Brook Food Processing Equipment Ltd.

*Busy Bees Cleaning and Maintenance 2000 Ltd.

*Integrated Data Needs Ltd (IDN).

 

Business of the Year 51+, sponsored by Higos Insurance Services Ltd.

*Claims Consortium Group.

*Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre.

*VADO.

 

Charity of the Year Award, sponsored by Clarke Willmott LLP.

*Broadway Lodge.

*Piers Simon Appeal – School in a Bag.

*The Hub Yeovil Community Support Charity.

 

Environmental Award, sponsored by Porter Dodson.

*C & D South West.

*Frogmary Green Farm.

 

International Trade Award, sponsored by Foot Anstey LLP.

*Cuddledry Ltd.

*Geist Europe Ltd.

*Somerdale International Limited.

 

Marketing & Promotion Award, sponsored by ADPR Ltd.

*Made Portraits.

*Somerdale International Limited.

*Somerset County Cricket Club.

 

New Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Glyder Ltd.

*GingerFred Dance Studio.

*Mendip Ropemakers Limited.

*Visual Business.

 

Somerset Manufacturer Award, sponsored by Monahans.

*James Tobias.

*SCM Handling.

*The Wild Beer Co.

 

Service Excellence Award, sponsored by Elite Staffing Solutions.

*Claims Consortium Group.

*Marston Foods.

*The Octagon Theatre.

 

Skills for Growth Award, sponsored by Somerset College.

*Claims Consortium Group.

*Crosville Motor Services Ltd.

*Lloyd & Whyte Group Ltd.

 

Young Business Employee of the Year, sponsored by Jobseekers Recruitment Services Ltd.

*Claims Consortium Group (Becky Read).

*Jon Thorner’s Ltd (Sam Kings).

*Open Vision Finance (Kelly Lush).