Judgment day as panel sits down to draw up shortlist for awards

» THE countdown to this year’s Gloucestershire Live Business Awards has reached a critical stage with the judges meeting to discuss the nominations.

This year’s event takes place at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse on October 10.

But before then, the judges are sitting down this week at headline sponsors Randall & Payne’s Shurdington headquarters to draw up the shortlist.

We will profile all the chosen businesses and individuals in the running for the awards.

Among the judges is Rachael Sugden, senior editor for Reach plc in Gloucestershire.

She said: “Judging meetings for the county’s flagship business awards are always intense and we expect this year to be no different.

“Our judges will be robust in their analysis of the entries in all of the categories - and some of the finalists will be visited in the coming weeks by judges if there is no agreement at the judging meeting.

“We wish all of our entrants every success in this year’s awards and look forward to meeting all of our finalists at their pre-awards evening reception on September 14.”

If you are not on the shortlist, you can still share in the big night by booking your seat at glosbusinessawards.co.uk.

The awards up for grabs this year are:

» Business of the Year (sponsored by Randall & Payne)

» Small Business of the Year (sponsored by Gloucestershire College)

» Family Business of the Year (sponsored by Willans LLP)

» New Business of the Year (sponsored by Endsleigh)

» Young Business Person of the Year (sponsored by Renishaw)

» Rural Business of the Year

» Business Innovation Award (sponsored by University of Gloucestershire)

» Marketing Campaign of the Year

» Best Place to Work (sponsored by Lucozade Ribena Suntory)

» Growth Business of the Year

» Corporate Social Responsibility

» Best Employee

» Ecommerce Business of the Year

» Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Quolux)