Businesses across Lancashire are celebrating after being announced as finalists in this year’s Red Rose Awards.
Successful businesses were announced after a day of rigorous pre-scoring at Northcote at the Rovers whittling down the entries to just six finalists for each of the 25 categories.
The 150 finalists will now face an interview and presentation stage across a further two judging days at the Red Rose Suite at Blackburn Rovers.
Winners will be revealed at the glittering ceremony which takes place on March 9 at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.
Around seventy judges, made up of sponsors, business leaders and independent experts, assessed hundreds of written entries to name the finalists.
Judges said the decisions during the scoring of written entries were tougher, the stories bigger and the achievements greater than ever before.
Richard Slater, publisher of Lancashire Business View – the magazine behind the awards, said: “The competition this year was exceptional; our judges had a difficult task.
“We are excited at once again bringing the county together at the Winter Gardens on March 9 to celebrate the success of Lancashire business, form new relationships and have a fantastic night.”
Dr John Lonsdale, Director of Innovation and Enterprise at UCLan, judging partner for Red Rose Awards 2017, said: “Following last year’s strong entries it is great to see those standards being maintained, with another great crop of businesses showing what they can do. Judging has been a real challenge.”
“It is inspiring to see Lancashire businesses growing, creating jobs and innovating across the county. The Awards evening is sure to be a great event for all concerned.”
Andrea Stamp, director of marketing and business development at Forbes Solicitors, headline sponsors of the awards for the seventh year, commented:
“We always enjoy the judging element of the awards and this year has been no different.
“The quality of the entries was even higher than previous years and we look forward to meeting the finalists on the interview days to hear more about their successful businesses across Lancashire”.
John Stanworth, head of corporate banking at Barclays in Lancashire, headline sponsor, added: “Once again we have seen a high quality of entries this year that has surpassed our expectations, year on year the calibre of submissions seems to get better and better, the finalists should be very proud that they have made it to this stage.
“We are looking forward to meeting them and celebrating their success on the night of the Awards.”
Sponsors of the awards are: Forbes Solicitors, Barclays Bank, Uclan, RSM, Seneca Partners, 3Man Factory, Beever and Struthers, Bespoke, Bizspace, Cassons, Enterprise Ventures and Rosebud, Fatmedia, Federation of Small Businesses, Genting Club, Heart, Holmes Mill, Leonard Dews, LH Recruitment, Marketing Lancashire, Mattioli Woods, Mayes Accountants, NFU Mutual, Northcote at the Rovers, NWEEG, Peter Scott Printers, Preston’s College, Slater and Gordon, Stonehouse logic, Sunshine Events, WEC Group and With a Twist.
The charity partner for Red Rose Awards 2017 is Cash for Kids and funds will be raised at the awards event to support their work