Doncaster Chamber has today unveiled the shortlist for its 2023 Business Awards, with an impressive line-up of nominees that span 15 unique categories.

The biggest ceremony of its kind in the entire region, the Doncaster Business Awards proves to be a dependable highlight in the local calendar year after year. It is always a triumphant evening of glitz, glamour, live entertainment and victorious celebration, as well as an opportunity to reflect upon all that’s been achieved by the city’s business communities over the past 12 months.

2023’s iteration of the black-tie event is shaping up to be an especially memorable one, however, as it will mark a very special anniversary. The Business Awards has now been going strong for 25 consecutive years — even persisting in a virtual form at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — and, in that space of time, has recognised hundreds of deserving winners.

Indeed, ever since that inaugural ceremony in 1998, the awards have been shining a spotlight on our borough’s best and brightest. Previous trophy recipients have included major organisations that were already making waves at the time, as well as up-and-comers who were correctly identified to have promising futures ahead of them.

To commemorate this proud history, Doncaster Chamber has decided to go even bigger for its silver anniversary iteration of the Business Awards, by expanding its total list of categories to 17. Two of these (the Lifetime Achievement Award and The People’s Choice Award) have unique nomination processes that are still underway, but the shortlist for the other 15 is now available to peruse.

There are awards here for caring charities, inspiring apprentices, exemplary customer service, great cases of partnership working, fledgling start-ups, SMEs that are punching well above their weight and, of course, the city’s anchor employers.

The finalists for each of these categories were carefully selected following a rigorous judging process, whereby their entry forms (of which there was a record number this year) were scored by a panel of experts. Next, they will be heading into an interview stage to whittle them down further, with the overall winner then be revealed on the night of the Business Awards itself, which this year falls on Thursday the 7^th of December.

Commenting on the newly unveiled shortlist, Dan Fell, Chief Exec of Doncaster Chamber, said: “As is always the case with the Business Awards, I am hugely impressed by the calibre of our brilliant finalists.

“We had a record number of entries this year and so our judges found that limiting themselves to just a handful of finalists per category was an immense challenge. There are countless enterprising individuals and accomplished organisations throughout our city, all of whom are worthy of recognition, but I believe that — as a result of a robust scoring process —our judges have identified some truly exceptional finalists.

“Those who have made it into the shortlist today managed to stand out from the crowd by exemplifying the very best of Doncaster’s tenacious and entrepreneurial spirit. They are a real credit to our city, and I would like to congratulate each and every one of them for making it this far.

“Despite the challenges Doncaster has faced this last year, these businesses demonstrate how and why the future for our city looks bright. I look forward to celebrating with them, and Doncaster’s diverse business communities, on the night of the Awards itself.”