South: The Solent Business Awards now open for entries

Nominations are invited for the Solent Business Awards which, now in it’s fourth year, is already recognised as the leading multi-category awards scheme in the region.

Winning or being shortlisted in a category has proved invaluable to previous entrants. It helps energise employees, reinforce reputations with clients and suppliers, and promote the company to potential targets.

The Awards evening will be held at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton on Thursday October 18 with guest speaker John Pienaar and hosted by Sally Taylor.

John is the BBC’s deputy political editor and presenter of the weekly Westminster round-up Pienaar’s Politics on Radio 5 Live. A seasoned reporter, he sees his job as beating a path through the forest of government spin. Ever since his original, often controversial parliamentary sketch for the Independent, he has acted as tour guide and translator of goings on in the Westminster village.

John originally trained at South London Press, covering whatever was occurring on his doorstep – be it street crime, domestic violence, sex, drugs or rock’n’roll. He then became an Old Bailey correspondent and even wrote an angling column (without ever having held a fishing rod).

Instantly recognisable to television news audiences, John has spent hundreds of hours standing in the rain outside 10 Downing Street. He was also invited to take part in a celebrity boxing show, only for it to be cancelled for fear that someone might get hurt. Picking up this theme in his after dinner speech, John imagines what would happen if the public were to vote for MPs by means of a reality TV show.

Client comments: “Excellent anecdotes, extremely engaging and wonderfully sociable - a superb choice.”

 

Our host, Sally Taylor, has been fronting BBC South Today for over three decades. On-screen, she is well known for her easy and relaxed style, as well as her professionalism and attention to detail. Her sharp sense of humour with her colleagues and with the audience at home has made her one of the most popular presenters across the country. In 2005, Sally was awarded the MBE for services to regional broadcasting and in October 2015 the University of Winchester awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her broadcasting career.

Away from the screen Sally is often found rambling – in all senses of the word – across the south of England with her dog. Wine and food are her passions and in her spare time, which is rare, she supports many charities including The Haven, a breast cancer charity; Simon Says, a child bereavement charity; and the children’s hospice, Naomi House.

 

Tickets for the evening are now on sale.

For further information on the awards visit:

solentbusinessawards.co.uk

or contact Linda Morse – 0118 9766412 – linda@elcot.co.uk