Express & Star Business Awards: Night to celebrate stories of success

And it is our honour to be able to showcase the enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit of companies and organisations both large and small at the Express & Star Business Awards, on Thursday.

The fact that this year's awards will be the biggest we have ever held is a testament to the fact that we have so much to celebrate when it comes to business and industry.

Whether it is small family firms or large multi-national operations, we can boast the very best businesses operating in every sector of the commercial world, from skilled legal services and those working in the ultra-competitive world of recruitment to traditional engineers and cutting-edge developers of groundbreaking new software or technology.

From those employing hundreds of workers at sites across the UK and overseas, to those with just a dedicated handful in one of the small offices or industrial units across the area, all of these businesses are playing a vital role in the return to growth of UK plc.

Thanks to their strength and variety, this year's Express & Star Business Awards will be the biggest yet held, with more competitors and more categories than ever before.

So it is with huge pleasure that we profile in these pages the finalists of this year's competition.

Each one has come through a rigorous assessment process in order to compete for one of the highly-prized awards that will be presented at Wolverhampton Racecourse on Thursday.

Across the 12 awards there are 37 finalists and, while only one company will be selected as the ultimate victor in each category, every single business profiled in these pages today is a winner.

They have come through the toughest years the UK economy has seen in living memory and are evidence of the entrepreneurship and strength that has always been a characteristic of businesses forged within our region.

Their very existence underlines the can-do attitude that has made this region a commercial powerhouse since the very earliest days of the Industrial Revolution.

Some are just a few years old, born and built in the very depths of the recession, while others have a history stretching back decades. No matter their age, experience or field of enterprise, each one of these businesses has impressed an experienced panel of judges made up of representatives of our sponsor companies and our own directors. They were selected against tough competition to be among our finalists.

Our judges then faced the difficult task of selecting one of these impressive finalists as the winner in each category.

This involved our judging teams carrying out site visits to each of the finalist businesses, and I believe every single member of our panel was as impressed as I was with the enthusiasm, ability and business acumen evident among all the companies we saw.

The quality of our finalist companies made the judging process very difficult indeed across each award category.

For more on the Business Awards, including the nominees, click here.

While those who walk away with the trophies on the night will be deserving winners, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to each and every one of the finalist companies that has taken part in this competition. They are an inspiration to us all.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors: Aspray24, BDO, Higgs & Sons, Jaguar Land Rover, Ladder for the Black Country, Carvers Building Supplies, EBC Group, Lloyds Bank, Wolverhampton City Council, UTC Aerospace Systems, the University of Wolverhampton, Yarrington, the Grand Theatre, Star Employment Services and Wolverhampton Racecourse.

Through their support for these awards they have shown their commitment to our area and its business community. These awards could not exist without them.

I would also like to pay tribute to our chosen charity for the night: Headway Black Country, which provides a range of support services to adult survivors of acquired brain injury and to their families and carers across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

All that remains now is to discover who the winners of our awards will be. I am sure that the glittering black tie dinner on Thursday night will be a fitting culmination to the months of work that have gone into these awards and I look forward to celebrating with you all.