ExCeL-lence is the key to winning our trophies

WHEN the winners are named at the Gala presentation night of the Thames Gateway Business Awards 08 the very best of local businesses and organisations will be getting the public recognition they deserve.

The ceremony, at the London ExCeL International Exhibition and Conference Centre, in Docklands, will be the climax of the annual search across the Gateway Region to name and fame those who keep their customers and suppliers more than satisfied with the service they receive.

Their success will mean that the finalists in the 16 categories of awards being competed for can use the Awards logos on their stationery and promotional material, and the outright winners will have an impressive trophy to display, testifying to their achievement.

The Awards are once again being sponsored by NatWest Bank.

John Cox, regional director, City and East London Commercial Banking, NatWest, said: "We are delighted to be sponsoring the Thames Gateway Business Awards again this year. NatWest has a long history of supporting businesses in the region and we see the awards as a great way to recognise and celebrate successful and proactive companies who have contributed to the growth of the local business community. We choose to sponsor the awards as it highlights our commitment to the region and we see it as a way of giving something back to the companies we work with."

When evaluating the entries, the judges will be looking for those factors which make the finalists really stand head and shoulders above the rest.

The Presentation Night is being held on Friday, November 21, 2008. On arriving there, guests will join sponsors of the awards and the various categories at a VIP drinks reception.

A representative of the company or organisation which has sponsored it will present each award to the outright winner.

Those supporting the individual categories include Train to Gain, the Jack Petchey Foundation, University of East London (UEL), Ixion, Helping East London Prosper, Utilize plc, London City Airport, Vantis, Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Canary Wharf Management, Barking & Dagenham Enterprise, Thames Innovation Centre, and Apprenticeships.

Each outright winner will receive a Red Letter Day to reward them for the immense effort they have put in to making their business a winner.

These are being donated by the organisation, and the winners will be able to choose from a wide range of activities, from paint-balling to rock climbing, sky-diving to a spa break.
For those attending the presentation night the official hotel is the Crowne Plaza.

The awards are supported by a high profile media campaign in all of Archant's Thames Gateway free and paid-for newspapers, and in its pan-London specialist Business to Business Life magazine which is read by 7,000 SMEs.

For more details of sponsorship and how you and your business or organisation can enter for the awards, call Archant business development manager Jon O'Neill on 020 8477 3775 or email jon.oneill@archant.co.uk