Excellence in Business Awards 2019 will celebrate brightest and best

Wakefield Express, our sister paper in neighbouring West Yorkshire, hosts its Excellence in Business Awards tonight – Thursday, September 26 – and businesses region wide will be keen to check out the winners to see what makes a champion.

BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration will host the awards ceremony to honour the brightest and best business people in the city at the Clarion Cedar Court Hotel, Denby Dale Road.

For more information – winners details will also appear here – see www.wakefieldbusinessawards.co.uk.

Judges have already revealed the standard of entries this year have been exceptional.

Steven Leigh MBE, of Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "I was delighted to be on the judging team. The standard of entry was exceptional and it made out job very. very difficult.

"It's really good to see so many businesses are doing well - creating employment and wealth in the Wakefield district."

Organised by the Wakefield Express, the awards help to raise the profile of businesses in the city, giving them a platform to showcase their work and offer an insight as to why Wakefield’s business community is booming.

For eight years the Express has used its business awards to shine a light on the great work that business people have done to help the city.

This year the awards are in partnership with main sponsor Wakefield BID, which has also put its name behind the Leisure/Retail Business of the Year award.

Express deputy editor Gavin Murray said:“There’s been a lot of investment and development in Wakefield during the past decade and we are moving on from being a city in the shadow of Leeds.

“Businesses that have helped grow our economy and move our city into the 21st century are at the heart of that.

“Alongside our exceptional cultural offering, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield Cathedral, the National Coal Mining Museum, the Hepworth and Nostell the city already has world class attractions and is a great place to do business in and with. Our awards are a way to celebrate the people who are driving that change.”