Nilsson takes supreme business award

Jenny Nilsson House of Travel Hastings was the Hawke's Bay Today and Newstalk ZB Supreme Award in Business Excellence winner last night at the UnisonFibre Hastings City Business Awards.

With a mountaineering theme to the evening - Reaching New Heights - the Hawke's Bay Opera House event saw 57 businesses celebrate each other's ascent to success. Hastings City Business general manager Sharon Pearce said the winners were certainly deserving.

"The judges found it difficult to judge - there was no one winner in any category that stood out - they all stood out," she said.

"When we got all the judges together and asked for their feedback, they were all excited, they were all passionate, they were all talking non-stop about their particular category.

"It appears that these businesses have really thought long and hard about what they want to do. It has been a tough year, and what these businesses have done to ensure they remain in business, is very exciting.

"It is humbling, actually, to see the amount of work these businesses are putting in - it is a fantastic result."

Ms Pearce said the Supreme Winner award was well deserved.

"They have supported the Business Awards for a long time now and have always been right there with the highly commended.

"They have often been a finalist.

"We are absolutely ecstatic that this year they took it out because each year they have been constantly lifting the bar. They are very deserving."

Hastings had very engaged business communities - even awards veterans who had opted out of entering this year were still involved.

"People really do believe in this process and they support it well."