ASSET Advantage is a new sponsor for the 2014 Inspire Business Awards.

The asset finance business, based at Matrix House, on Basing View, Basingstoke, specialises in providing lease-based funding across a wide range of equipment for small and medium-sized businesses.

The firm is sponsoring the Service Excellence Award – one of 13 awards that are up for grabs.

Credit and risk director Philip Knight is delighted to be involved with the prestigious business awards.

He said: “Although we operate throughout the UK, we are very keen to support and encourage local businesses. At Asset Advantage, we believe that the only way to do our work of lending money properly is to take the time to meet with and understand the business of our borrowers.

“We love talking to entrepreneurs about their companies and so it’s a given that we would want to be involved in the celebration of business and businesses that the Inspire Business Awards represents.”

“As a finance company we operate in the quintessential ‘service sector’. Our money is the same as everybody else’s and so the provision of excellent service is critical in differentiating Asset Advantage from our competitors.”

Diane Fairbairn, relationship director at Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking, is delighted that that the bank, which has a branch in Basingstoke’s Top of The Town and in Festival Place, is sponsoring the Innovation Excellence Award this year.

She said: “Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Santander, to set us apart.

“Innovation Excellence is something we look for, and recognise, in the SME market, and Inspire14 is a great way to celebrate those businesses that achieve this.”

And Diane has some advice for those considering entering this category.

She said: “True innovation will be the DNA and the heartbeat of a business, and it will automatically set them apart from others.

“However, they will need to demonstrate the commercial benefit of that innovation to be successful and ultimately achieve the excellence they deserve.”