There have been a record-breaking number of entries for the Enterprise Vision Awards and voting starts this month

NOMINATIONS have now closed and the next stage of the Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAs) journey has arrived as businesswomen from across the North West will gather for the all-important judging process.

A record breaking number of entries were received across 16 categories with current and former winners as well as new entrants submitting in the hope they can scoop another precious EVA trophy.

With shortlists confirmed, ladies will now have to give a five minute presentation in front of a trio of judges which is then followed by a 15 minute question and answer session at The Village Hotel, Blackpool. An adjudicator is also present throughout the whole judging process.

Following the judging stages, the public will be asked to cast their vote for a limited time only as voting opens on Monday, August 20th and closes at midnight on Friday, September 7th. When the judges’ scores are either tied or within a margin of two percent, the public votes are then added to decide the winner.

As proud media partners of the awards, we caught up with one of the judges who’ll be interviewing the EVA finalists, KRPR’s managing director, Kara Rose.

The Chorley-based PR company is proud sponsor of the Creative Industry category and has been involved with the awards for seven years.

Kara said: ‘The quality of entries never ceases to amaze me and I am certainly looking forward to meeting the ladies and really putting the microscope on their businesses as we search for our winners on judging day. This year, I also had the honour of judging the Best Customer Service Award too and it is safe to say that there are some real hidden gems across the region and we look forward to putting the spotlight on them on the night. Good luck to everyone throughout the judging process and just enjoy the night as to get that far is testament to a worthy business.’

A raft of familiar faces are on the finalist list and include Julie Maughan, who will be looking to scoop her third Enterprise Vision Award in as many years. Chantel Morgan, who won the New Business Award in 2017 is once again shortlisted, this time in the Inspirational Woman of the Year category whilst 2017 Small Business winners, Amy Peters and Gemma McKnight will be looking to retain their EVA.

Newcomers to the awards who have made the all-important shortlist are Keeley Edgeley, Nicole Griffin and Seema Dalvi plus a vast amount of others.

The EVAs are awards that shines the light on successful women in business. Now in its eighth year, winners of the awards will be announced at a black-tie ceremony at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Friday, September 28th, when the finalists will compete to win one of the UK’s most coveted female-only business awards in front of an audience of over 600 guests.

Coral Horn, organiser of the awards and founder of networking group Pink Link Ladies, said: ‘This is the exciting stage of the awards but it certainly isn’t easy.

‘I really look forward to this stage each year, ladies have a real chance to express themselves after working hard on their original entry. It’s key to have a judging stage, I think it gives ladies the chance to really talk about their business in detail, sometimes, entry forms just don’t allow that.

‘This year is certainly our strongest yet, we’ve been inundated with nominations and it wasn’t easy to create shortlists for the judges, it’s a major achievement to reach this stage in itself.

For more information on the awards or to book tickets visit www.enterprisevisionawards.co.uk.