"That's what makes judging so exciting; the talent," Gallagher says. "And they're really good stories you hear, that's what makes it so interesting."
The judges have narrowed the list down to five, but they believe deciding on the final winner will be hard, with no obvious standout among the category winners. Hill agrees. "We're going to have an interesting day when it comes to judging the ultimate winner," she says. "I would say it's definitely still wide open at this point." The winner of the NZ award will fly to Monaco next year to compete for the World Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Winner of the Young Entrepreneur category (35 years or younger across all industries): DANIEL RADCLIFFE - International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ)
This year's young entrepreneur category posed a difficult task for the judging panel, with strong contenders across the group. In the end, they selected Daniel Radcliffe, for the success he had achieved with his company IVHQ.
"Dan had extraordinary clarity on where he was heading, and his story of how he got started is just inspirational," says Hill.
At 22, Radcliffe had what he described as a "quarter-life crisis". He travelled to Kenya to volunteer and enjoyed the experience so much that when he came home, he set up IVHQ.
The company, based in New Plymouth, has since sent more than 37,000 volunteers to 26 countries.
The judges say they were impressed with Radcliffe's vision for the company's future and with his entrepreneurship since the beginning of his career.
Winner of the Product category (retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers of products from all industries): MARK RICE - Goldair
The judges say the product category proved the most entertaining, one finalist, peanut butter maker Pic Picot, even composing a song for the occasion. Even though Picot didn't win his category, he won a new fan base.
"I've been doing this for five years and it's the first time we've ever been sung to," Greg Cross says. "We're all Pic peanut butter ambassadors at this point. We're sold."
Ultimately, however, the judges decided Mark Rice's passion and dedication to the Goldair brand deserved the win.
"With Mark, the passion he had for reinventing the Goldair brand is amazing, it was really exciting to hear about it, and he went to court in Australia to fight for it. And won," Cross says.
Tim Alpe noted that Rice really understood the value of branding, and was impressed with his fight to keep the brand.
"The question was asked, 'Why don't you just slap another brand on it and hock it off through your distribution?'. But he actually understood it doesn't work like that," Alpe says.
Winner of the Technology and Emerging Industries category (software, hardware, telecommunications, digital media, biotechnology and health sciences): VAUGHAN ROWSELL - Vend
Since launching in 2010, cloud-based point-of-sale company Vend has catapulted to a leading position, with more than 130 staff and customers in more than 160 countries. Chief executive Vaughan Rowsell says the company is aiming for world domination, but it was his own determination and drive that got the judges' attention.
"For me the striking story with Vaughan was the story he told about his mum taking out a second mortgage to give all the kids computers," Cross says. "And that got him determined to do something really big for his mum."
Rowsell says from a young age he had always been interested in technology and he had a view that almost anything could be solved using technology, a view he has put into action from the outset of his career.
Winner of the Services category (providers of professional services): MICHAEL WHITEHEAD - Wherescape
In the services category, Wherescape chief executive Michael Whitehead made an impression straight off the bat.
"With Michael, the big impact for us was that right from the outset, he just started reeling off a list of brand names of big companies that are his customers, and they choose to be his customers," Cross says.
The judges were taken with Whitehead's transition from a corporate career into entrepreneurship, and the success he has achieved with Wherescape.
The company now has about 100 staff and its customer base has grown from 100 in 2006 to around 700 globally today. About 80 per cent of Wherescape's customers are overseas.
Wherescape uses "big data'" to provide its customers with easily interpreted information which allows them to conduct analytics and better manage their business.
Whitehead has more than 15 years' experience in the data sector, having worked in data warehousing for Sequent Computer Systems before starting Wherescape.
Winner of the Master Entrepreneur category (leaders of well-established businesses with significant commitment to entrepreneurship): PATRICK TEO - BCS Group
Patrick Teo joined BCS in 2005. At the time, the company was worth $20 million and had 120 staff. Less than 10 years on, the company is topping $140 million in revenue and employee numbers have more than tripled. It is this growth which the judges say made Teo worthy of the category win.
"For Patrick, it was just about the phenomenal growth he's achieved in a very, very short space of time," Cross says.
The airport security and logistics business, founded in 1993, has seen particularly strong growth in the past year, with the completion of a $55 million airport baggage handling systems contract in Kuala Lumpur. The company also passed the $100 million revenue mark in March, and has undergone rapid expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
BCS Group has achieved huge success under Teo and during the judging, his success and vision for the future was well articulated, says Alpe.
