Last Thursday evening, I attended the Tendring4Growth Business Awards, which was held at The Princes Theatre in Clacton.

The event marked the formal end of the Tendring Business Fortnight, and a great evening was had by all as we celebrated the successes of businesses based and operating across the local area.

There was a lot of positive energy and lots of wonderful people there.

The awards themselves recognised outstanding achievement across a range of categories, including Young Businessperson of the Year and Retailer of the Year.

My congratulations go to all the very worthy winners, as well as all the runners-up and those who were nominated.  

I would like to especially congratulate Sandy’s Farm, who were the winners of the ‘Commitment to Community’ award.

This is a wonderful achievement, particularly after all the different challenges that Gary Clarke and Sandy Miller have overcome this year to keep their doors open.

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Tendring Council, the organisers of the awards ceremony and the driving force behind all the different events that took place across the Business Fortnight.  

It is good that the council really cares about small businesses and start-ups and about those running things to help their local communities.

However, it increases my fears that when we get rid of the district council and move to a government on a unitary basis, on a much wider basis, businesses in the area will not get the same level of attention.

That said, I’m sure that next year’s events will be even bigger and better.

So, if you weren’t able to take part or attend this year, I would very much encourage you to make sure that you are involved next time.

To ensure that you don’t miss out, you can sign up for the Tendring Council business e-bulletin at www.tendring4growth.com.