On Friday 15^th October we had our Annual General Meeting (AGM) & Annual Business Awards Ceremony.  The Business Awards are all about celebrating the local businesses and their staff who provide great service. It really means a lot to the businesses to receive nominations in the awards as it shows them how much their customers appreciate the work they do.

The Business Awards were launched on the 13^th August in partnership with the Northern Scot. By the time the voting closed on the 10^th  September there had been hundreds of votes cast for 171 businesses and individuals. We have to count each and every vote in all categories, which takes a while, but it’s heart-warming to see the volume of  support for the local businesses.

Our Awards are a little different from many other business awards as it is the public who nominate and vote for the businesses.

 There were 10 categories in the awards:

• Retail
• Finance, Printing, Professional and Service Sectors (Local Businesses)
• Finance, Banking (National Chains)
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Hair, Beauty, Fitness, Dental & Health Care
• Charity, Community, Church Groups, Education, Support Groups and Clubs
• David Urquhart New Business Award
• Long Established Business Award
• Ian Widdowson Individual Customer Service Award
• Elgin Community Champion

On the night, over 60 people attended the AGM and Awards Ceremony to hear about the work BID has been doing and our plans for 2022 in the AGM and of course to join in the celebrations for the Awards. Between the AGM and Awards Ceremony, we had a networking session where the businesses had a chance to have a chat with their business neighbours. Everyone also enjoyed a  glass of wine (or two!) and delicious canapes that were prepared by the Inkwell- the chicken & waffles canape was a firm favourite!

The winners and finalists for the awards were: