Television’s Jamie Laing hosted the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2025 with WRS on Friday (9th May), where top local businesses were recognised.
A capacity crowd enjoyed the glittering ceremony at Cowes Yacht Haven, which included an outstanding performance from West End star Kerry Ellis.
Jamie Laing celebrated the winners, engaged with the audience and gave away some of his own Candy Kittens sweets as prizes to nominees.
Speaking after the event, he said:
“I’ve had an amazing time. The Isle of Wight is an incredible place and we smashed it tonight. Congratulations to all our winners!”
The President’s Cup for Outstanding Contribution was presented to Nigel Hartley MBE, the outgoing CEO of Mountbatten, who received his award to a standing ovation. The Business of The Year was presented to WightFibre, who won 2 other awards on the night. IOW Group and Brightbulb also took home a pair of trophies.
Steven Holbrook, CEO of the Chamber, said of the event:
“We’ve had an amazing night, our biggest and best yet. With the support of our main sponsor WRS we’ve been able to pull out all the stops and share in a brilliant evening of celebration, with some incredible talent on show, both on-stage and in our shortlist. My thanks to WRS and all of our sponsors, and my congratulations to all of our winners and nominees.”
David Jackson, CEO of WRS added:
“WRS was founded right here on the Isle of Wight back in 2003, and we have always been proud of our local roots. Tonight as main sponsor we’ve unveiled our new brand image, to show how far we’ve come. The Isle of Wight is home to an inspiring network of businesses, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators who make the Island a special place to live and work. WRS is incredibly proud to support this celebration of talent, innovation and excellence.”
Chamber Awards 2025 – Winners
Start Up Business of the Year – sponsored by PC Consultants
WINNER: Wight Vets
Tourism and Leisure Business of the Year – sponsored by Visit Isle of Wight
WINNER: Isle of Wight Studio Glass Ltd
Growth Business of the Year – sponsored by WRS
WINNER: Wight Coaches Ltd
Speaking on the award win, Wight Coaches Director Josh Harris has said:
“This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our incredible team, and of course, to our loyal customers who continue to put their trust in us for their travel needs.”
Creative Impact Award – sponsored by Medina Publishing
WINNER: WightFibre
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Spence Willard
Speaking on the triple-award win, Wightfibre CEO John Irvine, said:
“We are delighted to have won these awards.
“They are, of course, a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our entire team but even more so our success comes from the thousands of homes and businesses across the Island who have put their trust in us to deliver their Broadband and telephone services. To them we reserve our biggest thank you.”
Entrepreneurship Award – sponsored by Red Funnel
WINNER: Pinnacle Suites Hotel
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Island Echo
Employer of the Year – sponsored by Glanvilles Damant Legal Services
WINNER: Brightbulb
Speaking on the win, Brightbulb Managing Director, Matt Jeffrey has said:
“Winning both Employer of the Year and the Tech and Innovation Award is an incredible honour and a true reflection of the amazing team behind Brightbulb. I couldn’t be prouder of them—their passion, creativity, and hard work are what make nights like this possible. To be recognised alongside so many inspiring Island businesses makes it all the more special.”
Community Award – sponsored by Moore (South) LLP
WINNER: Sight for Wight
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Isle of Wight Youth Trust
Speaking on the win, a Sight for Wight spokesperson has said:
“We could not be more proud to have been presented with this award at the Isle of Wight Chamber Business Awards evening.
“As a charity, we have more than doubled in size in the last four years; this has been a huge period of change for our members, volunteers and staff alike. This award really does recognise and celebrate everything our 160-year-old charity stands for.
“In particular this past year, we helped a record 1042 individuals on the Isle of Wight to live safely, confidently and independently with their sight loss.
“We also celebrated some wider success working with Wight Fibre for access to free directory enquiries, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police with our Visual Impairment protocol, Tesco with a rebrand of their Fire Pit colour palette and the Isle of Wight Council with the new design of their waste collection leaflet.
“Winning such a prestigious award is humbling and we thank our volunteers without whom we could not exist, our staff for always going above and beyond and, most importantly, our members for their truly inspirational lives they lead.”
Environment and Sustainability Award – sponsored by IFPL
WINNER: IOW Group
HIGHLY COMMENDED: WightFibre
Speaking on the award win, IOW Group Managing Director, Brett has said:
“Being nominated at the prestigious IW Chamber Business Awards is an honour itself, but to be nominated for two awards and to win both is simply extraordinary. We’re especially proud to receive the Environmental and Sustainability Award, which reflects our ongoing commitment to advancing our centrifugal technology to reduce fuel consumption and emissions across global industries. And to win Small Business of the Year is a testament to the incredible team driving IOW Group’s growth and international success. Thank you to the Chamber for putting on such a fantastic event!”
Technology and Innovation Award – sponsored by Lifeline Alarms
WINNER: Brightbulb
Customer Service Award – sponsored by RPL Construction
WINNER: WightFibre
Manufacturing and Export Business of the Year – sponsored by GKN Aerospace
WINNER: Isle of Wight Tomatoes
Training and Development Award – sponsored by Top Mops
WINNER: Yokogawa Marex
Hospitality Business of the Year – sponsored by Cherry Godfrey
WINNER: The Chequers Inn
Speaking on their award win, a spokesperson from The Chequers Inn has said:
“After winning Hospitality Business of the Year award the other night, our team is still on cloud 9. What a night it was and we’d like to thank the IW Chamber for putting on such an incredible evening. The win is a true testament to everyone’s hard-work and dedication! We hope we made our customers proud.”
Business Social Impact Award – sponsored by WightFibre
WINNER: Red Squirrel Property Shop Ltd
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Medina Publishing Limited & Medina Bookshop
Micro Business of the Year – sponsored by Gurit
WINNER: JR Zone
Small Business of the Year – sponsored by Wightlink
WINNER: IOW Group
HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Seaview Hotel
IW Chamber Membership Special Award
Andy Squibb
IW Chamber President’s Award For Outstanding Contribution 2025
Nigel Hartley MBE
Business Of The Year Award 2025
WightFibre
WightFibre. Lol
I wouldn’t want their fibre free of charge.
“We have had years of disruption”, some people
never forget!!