Our Finalists Celebration

We hosted over 75 guests, with a few added extras that we were thrilled to see, all from a variety of different businesses ranging from construction services to pet care!

Charlotte Perkins started the celebration by explaining what happens next - the judging days start on the 17th September, and that a Winner and two Highly Commended businesses are chosen at the end of each judging day, but the results are kept secret until the Awards Ceremony and Dinner.

We then had James Pinchbeck from Streets Chartered Accountants step to the front and present the People’s Choice Award briefing, an award that Streets are sponsoring for a fourth consecutive year. The award was launched in 2016, and it seeks to engage and promote the values and success of family businesses within the wider community. James did a brilliant job of explaining the voting process, and gave some knowledgeable tips on securing votes, such as knowing your voting audience and how you can generate votes.

It was then time for the Judges Perspective, which was presented by Duncan James from Next Generation Family Business Leader sponsor Shakespeare Martineau, who will be judging in this year’s awards. He gave the finalists tips and advice for their interviews from the judges’ perspective, helping them to perform to the best level they can in their interviews and hopefully win their category. 

We were then joined by Dave Collins from our Family Business of the Year sponsor OrderWise, who won the People’s Choice Award in 2016 and the Family Business of the Year award in 2017, to give the finalists a winner’s perspective. He gave our finalists some invaluable advice from someone who has been through this award system and come out on top, so this years finalists can have something special in their interviews that pushes them to the top and makes them stand out. We then had a Q & A session at the end, making sure everyone was confident with the judging process and how the People’s Choice Award works.

All finalists now meet the Awards’ individual category independent judging panels, each of which is led by a leading family business individual, supported by a sponsor representative, an industry expert and representative from the Midlands Family Business Awards team. These judging days will start on Tuesday 17th September.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, we all had a fantastic afternoon meeting all our finalists. We are looking forward to seeing you all at the Awards Ceremony and Dinner at King Power Stadium in Leicester on 7th November, which will be a lovely event for the businesses involved and a fantastic celebration of the family business sector.