Mexican fiesta spices up business awards

7 June 2010

A hot and spicy Mexican fiesta fired up the North Shore as potential entrants for this year’s business awards gathered to kick start their entries at a special entrant celebration.

Multicoloured sombreros, bandanas and piñatas dotted the room as more than 180 enthusiastic business people embraced the 2010 Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards.

Principal sponsors Westpac and Enterprise North Shore hosted the entertaining event, to encourage businesses to focus on their entries ahead of next month’s approaching close off date.

Ian Blair, general manager for business banking says, “As staunch supporters of local business, Westpac is proud to once again sponsor these prestigious awards – a pinnacle event in the community. We believe that encouraging excellence is a fundamental way to stimulate business growth, which is extremely important to Westpac's many business clients, and to our economy.”

Enterprise North Shore chief executive Terry Hoskins anticipates a high standard of entries. “Each year we see talented and successful businesses throw their hats into the ring for acknowledgement, and each year we are astounded by the innovation and sheer genius that is housed in every corner of our community. The awards are an outstanding way to highlight and encourage business excellence which we clearly have in abundance in North Shore and Rodney.”

While officially opening the evening, North Shore City Mayor Andrew Williams acknowledged entrants for embracing the awards and praised the crucial role all businesses play in ensuring the continued success of the local economy.

Businesses were reminded that entering the awards is easy and straightforward. Awards coordinator Ngaio Merrick says, “Businesses do not need to fret about submitting a Pulitzer Prize winning entry. The judges do not measure the quality of the writing, but how much each business’s passion, pride and uniqueness shines through. Businesses should simply focus on telling their own story.”

Entrants have a choice of 12 categories to enter, with all winners eligible for the Westpac Supreme Excellence Award. All entrants are also automatically entered for the Enterprise North Shore Committed Optimist Award.

See more photos from the fiesta!

Read more about the awards