Nominations open for Skegness Business Awards 2024

The nominations are open for the Skegness Business Awards 2024.

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Paul, Chair of Schengen Area Business Chamber, and I'm at the launch event for the

00:08Business Awards 2024.

00:10Now, last year's awards, back after four years, it was a big celebration of local business,

00:17wasn't it?

00:18And showed the variety of businesses within the town that people wouldn't really realise

00:23were here.

00:24Yeah, it was great to see the uptick last year, because we had built some momentum before

00:28COVID in the Business Awards, and we weren't sure how easy it would be to encourage businesses

00:34back to sponsor and to enter the awards, and we were super pleased with the response we

00:38had.

00:39And I know the judges found it really difficult to pick a finalist, because the entrants were

00:44so plentiful and of such good quality.

00:46So yeah, really pleased with the event last year, and again, looking to build on it this

00:51year.

00:52Now, you did mix it up a little bit last year with a Longtime Achiever Award, rather than

00:58an overall award.

01:01Is there anything different this year?

01:02No, this year, actually, because of the success last year, we've decided to run with the same

01:06awards, simply because there were so many people who had entered and didn't quite make

01:12the finalists.

01:13So we thought we'd give people another opportunity to enter those same awards, and then maybe

01:17look to freshen it up a little bit next year.

01:20Now, obviously, it is something for local businesses to aspire to.

01:27We have got a glorious day today, haven't we?

01:30But the weather hasn't been great so far this summer.

01:35What are businesses telling you?

01:36Yeah, you're certainly right.

01:38The weather and all the noise around cost of living, etc., is certainly having an impact,

01:43and anecdotally, at least, booking seemed to be down a little bit.

01:46But I think that's mirrored in many ways across the country.

01:50So we've had a change of government, the sun's out today, so hopefully brighter things ahead.