FINALISTS of the prestigious Somerset Business Awards 2015 have been announced after much anticipation.

Following a record number of Award entries from over 100 companies, the judges have spent weeks visiting businesses of all sizes from around the county, before selecting the finalists for each category. The chosen companies will find out if they will be crowned the winner at the exclusive black tie celebratory dinner, at Wellsprings Leisure Centre in Taunton next month.

Richard Bugler, Partner at Albert Goodman – the Somerset Business Awards’ main sponsor – comments, “The standard of entries to the Somerset Business Awards never fail to impress us and the fact that there have been more entries than ever before is testament to the excellent business happening in Somerset. It has been inspiring visiting all the shortlisted businesses and they should feel proud to have got this far – we look forward to celebrating with them in October.”

Working together with Bridgwater College, the finalists will now be filmed by the Media students to create a short film about the business and what winning means to them. This will be shown on the Awards night and will form part of the students’ final course results.

The Awards are sponsored by a variety of Somerset businesses from the county’s vibrant business community. Finalists and winners will be celebrated on Friday 23 October at the black tie occasion. The event, which is being held at Wellsprings Leisure Centre in Taunton, has become one of the most important and popular dates in the county’s business calendar.

Please follow @SomBizAwards on Twitter for all the latest news and updates with #SBA2015. For more information, please visit www.somersetbusinessawards.org.uk.

Full list of award finalists (in alphabetical order):
Albert Goodman Family Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Albert Goodman LLP
•    Holiday Resort Unity
•    Sarah Hodge Hairdressers
•    Spillers of Chard Ltd

Business of the Year 1-10, sponsored by Yeovil College
•    AB Heritage 
•    Southwest Digital Systems Ltd
•    Transolva Ltd

Business of the Year 11-25, sponsored by A.C. Mole & Sons
•    Red Berry Recruitment Ltd
•    Somerdale International Limited
•    Teapot Creative Ltd

Business of the Year 26-50, sponsored by EDF Energy
•    Brook Food Processing Equipment Ltd
•    Busy Bees Cleaning and Maintenance 2000 Ltd.
•    Integrated Data Needs Ltd (IDN)

Business of the Year 51+, sponsored by Higos Insurance Services Ltd
•    Claims Consortium Group
•    Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre
•    VADO

Charity of the Year Award, sponsored by Clarke Willmott LLP
•    Broadway Lodge
•    Piers Simon Appeal – School in a Bag
•    The Hub Yeovil Community Support Charity 

Environmental Award, sponsored by Porter Dodson
•    C & D South West
•    Frogmary Green Farm

International Trade Award, sponsored by Foot Anstey LLP
•    Cuddledry Ltd
•    Geist Europe Ltd
•    Somerdale International Limited

Marketing & Promotion     Award, sponsored by ADPR Ltd
•    Made Portraits
•    Somerdale International Limited
•    Somerset County Cricket Club

New Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Glyder Ltd
•    GingerFred Dance Studio
•    Mendip Ropemakers Limited
•    Visual Business 

Somerset Manufacturer Award, sponsored by Monahans
•    James Tobias 
•    SCM Handling
•    The Wild Beer Co

Service Excellence Award, sponsored by Elite Staffing Solutions
•    Claims Consortium Group
•    Marston Foods
•    The Octagon Theatre

Skills for Growth Award, sponsored by Somerset College
•    Claims Consortium Group
•    Crosville Motor Services Ltd
•    Lloyd & Whyte Group Ltd

Young Business Employee of the Year, sponsored by Jobseekers Recruitment Services Ltd
•    Claims Consortium Group (Becky Read)
•    Jon Thorner’s Ltd (Sam Kings)
•    Open Vision Finance (Kelly Lush)