Island Echo is among local businesses to be shortlisted in this year’s Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce Business Awards – the biggest night of the year for the Island’s thriving business community.
After scooping the Micro Business of the Year award in 2019, Island Echo has been nominated in 2 categories for 2025; Growth Business of the Year and Entrepreneurship Award.
Over 400 people are expected to make their way to Cowes Yacht Haven on Friday 9th May for this year’s glitz and glam black-tie ceremony. For the first time this year’s awards will be presented in association with WRS Systems, as headline sponsor and the Chamber’s Gold Patron. The event host is set to be announced in due course.
In total 40 Isle of Wight businesses are nominated this year, with 59 nominations across 16 categories. The shortlist has been produced by a panel of independent judges, some of whom are on the Island, with most on the mainland or even internationally based.
IW Chamber Chief Executive Steven Holbrook, has said:
“We’re thrilled to present a really strong shortlist that once again showcases the cream of the Island’s business community.
“Every year this event showcases the incredible businesses that make the Island a brilliant place to live and work. We have so much to celebrate here.
“Once again, our nominees represent a wide range of businesses from across our community, of all sizes and sectors. After some years of economic uncertainty, it’s great to see some real consistency here, with some well recognised names returning to our shortlist, as well as welcoming many new businesses, either newly established or engaging with this event for the first time.
Article continues below this advertisement “Our team of judges were really impressed by the quality of entries and have worked hard to select this shortlist. Our impartial judging panel is made up of 23 business experts, more than two thirds of which are based off Island, and some internationally. Our quality threshold is extremely high, and all of the businesses have already done incredibly well to earn their nomination.”
Darren Toogood, Editor/Publisher of Island Echo, says:
“We are over the moon to be nominated for both Growth Business of the Year and Entrepreneurship Award.
“The team felt it was the right time to go for another Chamber award, especially given our accelerated growth over the past 6 months. But we know the competition is tough as there are so many great businesses on the Isle of Wight!
“Good luck to all of those who have entered the awards – we look forward to a fantastic night in Cowes”.
The nominees for 2025 are…
The nominees are:
Start Up Business of the Year – sponsored by PC Consultants
Diamond Adventures
Pinnacle Suites Hotel
Simplex Accounting Limited
Wight Vets
Tourism and Leisure Business of the Year – sponsored by Visit Isle of Wight
Blackgang Chine
Isle of Wight Studio Glass Ltd
Growth Business of the Year – sponsored by WRS Systems
Island Echo
Strings Bar & Venue
Superior Bespoke Furniture & Kitchens
Wight Coaches Ltd
Creative Impact Award – sponsored by Medina Publishing
Isle of Wight Studio Glass
Quay Arts
Spence Willard
WightFibre
Entrepreneurship Award – sponsored by Red Funnel
Charlie Panayi
Guardian Technologies
Island Echo
Pinnacle Suites Hotel
Employer of the Year – sponsored by Glanvilles Damant Legal Services
Brightbulb
WightFibre
Yokogawa Marex
Community Award – sponsored by Moore (South) LLP
Isle of Wight Youth Trust
Mountbatten Isle of Wight
Natural Enterprise Ltd
Sight for Wight
Environment and Sustainability Award – sponsored by IFPL
GKN Aerospace Services – Cowes
IOW Group
WightFibre
Technology and Innovation Award – sponsored by Lifeline Alarms
Brightbulb
Guardian Technologies
IFPL Group Limited
Yokogawa Marex
Customer Service Award – sponsored by RPL Construction
Preziosa Dachshunds
The Royal Hotel
WightFibre
Manufacturing and Export Business of the Year – sponsored by GKN Aerospace
Diverse Marine
IFPL Group Limited
Isle of Wight Tomatoes
Training and Development Award – sponsored by Top Mops
WightFibre
Willetts and Doig Optometrists
Yokogawa Marex
Hospitality Business of the Year – sponsored by Cherry Godfrey
The Blacksmiths
The Chequers Inn
The Island Holiday Company
The Seaview Hotel
Business Social Impact Award – sponsored by WightFibre
Medina Publishing Limited & Medina Bookshop
Red Squirrel Property Shop Ltd
RenoDrain
Right at Home, Isle of Wight
WightFibre
Micro Business of the Year – sponsored by Gurit
JR Zone
Silver Arch Property Solutions Limited
Superior Bespoke Furniture and Kitchens
Wight Coaches Ltd
Small Business of the Year – sponsored by Wightlink
Diverse Marine
Eldridges Solicitors
IOW Group
NFU Mutual Isle of Wight
The Seaview Hotel
My favourite island business is Hurst, shame they are not
on the list.