The dates are set and the venue is confirmed, it’s that time of the year again where we introduce all the categories for this year’s East Cambridgeshire Business Awards.

This week we’re talking about the Business Growth category and it’s open to companies of any size that have been trading for more than three years.

Sponsored by our awards partners, East Cambridgeshire District Council, to win this prize you must demonstrate growth strategies that encompass a broad range of activities across your business.

Whether it be in innovation, market development, staff development, strategic leadership and/or improvements in financial measures.

This year we have the following categories available to enter; New Business of the Year, Small Medium Enterprises of the Year and Family Business of the Year.

Supporting Young People Award, Commercial Business in The Community, The Customer Service Award, Business Growth Award, Business Person of the Year, Employer of the Year and The Innovation Award.

Criteria for each of the categories can be found on the awards website.

The Judges’ Award & The Business of the Year Award - These awards are not directly entered but chosen by the judges and will be announced on the night.

We spoke to last year’s Business Growth winners Asynt Limited and found out what life has been like since winning their prize in 2019.

A spokesman said: “Business grew by 25 per cent in 2019, this was partly due to increased international, sales to the USA, China and Japan as well as the introduction of new novel products to our customers.

“We are planning development of new and novel technologies for research scientists, we also hope to expand our premises to allow continued growth for both office staff and storage (post Covid19).

“Winning the ward was highly motivational for all of my team, for us to receive this accolade helps us to realise that our hard efforts can be recognised.

“For a business entering this category think about what makes your company and ideas novel when compared to the competition.”

Entry deadline for the 2020 awards is July 3 2020 at 5pm. All entries can be made through the awards website: www.elybusinessawards.co.uk/