Awards night shows business innovation is healthy

Hundreds of business people from across south east Hampshire enjoyed a great awards ceremony at Portsmouth Guildhall last night.

The News Business Excellence Awards 2009 was a chance to salute companies and organisations that are being positive and successful amid the now official recession.

BBC South Today presenter Sally Taylor MBE guided us through the evening as master of ceremonies, a consummate professional as always.

Nine awards, including runners-up and highly commended entries, reflected the merits of team work, community involvement, innovation and high achievement. Forty-eight entries made it onto the shortlist across all categories.

Amid such an amazing range of local businesses, some of them world-leading in their fields, it must have been a difficult task for the judges to decide on winners, but I was particularly impressed by Havant firm Mindsheet who won the Innovation of the Year category for their robot spy – a remote control device that combat troops can send into enemy territory to scout for hazards. It’s already had interest from the MoD.

Technograph Microcircuits Ltd was named Business of the Year for a stellar success story. The team has gone from printing sheet music to providing the circuitry behind some of the world’s most critical hardware systems. Orbiting satellites and jet propulsion systems were mentioned.

Also deserving huge praise was Solent Carpentry Services who won the Small Business of the Year category for growing its market share in the face of a hugely difficult construction sector.

Award ceremonies are an ideal chance to raise cash for local charities and from the 400+ guests it was great to see a combined donation on the night of more than £2,500 for the Rowans Hospice at Purbrook.

Thanks for organising the event must go to the News and the many sponsors including Business Link and the Portsmouth Property Association.