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Businesses buoyed by awards evening

Businesses that contributed to a town’s continuing regeneration have been celebrated by their peers. Hartlepool’s third annual Business Awards took place last Thursday at the town’s Borough Hall.

Established steel manufacturers, The Expanded Metal Company, picked up three awards, including Business of the Year, whilst oil and gas specialists Heerema Hartlepool were double winners on the night.

Hartlepool MP Iain Wright said: “Hartlepool has a lot going on at the moment and it is thanks to the hard work of the companies in this town. It is a place to visit, to enjoy and do business in. We should be really proud of this town and I wish every success to the businesses in going forward.”

Hartlepool Borough Council’s Enterprise Team, who organised the event with the support of the Hartlepool Business Forum, said that they were “delighted” with the sell-out evening.

Mick Emerson, Principal Economic Development Officer, said: “The Awards evening went splendidly. It takes 12 months of planning and a lot of hard work but it was all definitely worth it. “The judging was extremely difficult but the panel put a lot of time and effort into reading through applications and going out to the short-listed businesses to interview them on their premises.”

A record 119 Hartlepool businesses submitted applications for the awards, with judges then selecting a short-list of three in each of the eight categories.

Mr Emerson continued: “To be short-listed was a great achievement in itself. There was tough competition in every category and there were no easy choices. We’ll now sit down and start preparing for next year when we hope it will be bigger and better than ever.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .