THE Inspire Business Awards took place on Thursday night, with businesses from across north Hampshire celebrating the winners.

Held at the Hampshire Court Hotel, Chineham, the award ceremony celebrated the best of business success in north Hampshire with over 500 businesspeople attending.

The annual awards programme, which is organised by Destination Basingstoke on behalf of sponsoring partners, received a record-breaking number of entries over the summer, which were then shortlisted and the finalists visited by the judging panel during September and October heightening the anticipation for the announcements made at the ceremony.

Winners and finalists came from all parts of north Hampshire from Basingstoke to Aldershot and everywhere in between to see the gongs dished out.

The evening was compered by Felicity Edwards, managing director of Destination Basingstoke, with Tommy Gentleman, the owner of Andover-based Reasons Fitness and a past winner of an INSPIRE Award.

Felicity said: “It has been a fantastic celebration of our business community and demonstrates very clearly that north Hampshire is a great place for business to thrive.

“Congratulations to all our winners and finalists.”

The list of winners and nominees for the 13 awards are as follows:

New Business of the Year Award

Winner: Cahn Property Solutions

Sponsored by: B2B Expos

Runners Up:

- Funk & Twist Fitness

- Wedition

Business and the Community Award

Winner: Clarke & Son

Sponsored by: Gazette Newspapers

Runners Up:

- Sovereign Housing

- Unum

- Classic Race Simulators

Family Business of the Year

Winner: Woodland and Hill Brow

Sponsored by: Brackenwood Windows

Runners Up:

- Rawlings Transport

- Planned Lighting Maintenance

Apprentice of the Year

Winner: Calan Kenward – LG Motion

Sponsored by: The University of Winchester

Runners Up:

- Lewis Hall – Pharmahouse

- Emily Buckley – Rural Fringe

Young Business Person of the Year

Winner: Matthew Larcome

Sponsored by: Minuteman Press

Runners Up:

Farah Fonseca

Jade Binsted

Service Excellence Award

Winner: Hair Beauty and Barber Studio

Sponsored by: Vitacress

Runners Up:

- ACC UK

- Reality HR

Small Business of the Year

Winner: Pharmahouse

Sponsored by: Breeze FM

Runners Up:

- Festival Street Kitchen

- Webkick

Entrepreneur of the Year

Winner: Joanna Jensen

Sponsored by: Inchora

Runners Up:

- Nick Thompson – DCSL Software

- Neil Rider – Serious Sport

Innovation of the Year Award

Winner: Razorsecure

Sponsored by: Festival Place

Runners Up:

- Loma Systems

- Basingstoke College of Technology

International Business of the Year

Winner: Driven International

Sponsored by Fluor

Runners Up:

- Juniper Research

- Exclaimer

Employer of the Year

Winner: Tempcover

Sponsored by HR Dept.

Runners Up:

- Hawk-Eye Innovations

- Jargon PR

Female Achiever of the Year

Winner : Leah Mathias-Collins from Vitacress

Sponsored by Willmot Dixon

Runners Up:

- Sally Ann Hall Jones – Reality HR

- Sophie Cranston - Libelula

Business of the Year

Winner : DCSL Software

Sponsored by Herrington Carmichael

Runners Up:

- Jargon PR

- Childs Farm

For a full write-up of the awards, including interviews with each of the winners, see next week’s Gazette.