Winners of the Mercury Business Awards 2019 crowned at Greetham Valley with a celebration of the best in Stamford, Rutland and Bourne

The winners of the 14th annual Mercury Business Awards were crowned at a glittering awards ceremony tonight (Friday, September 20) at Greetham Valley.

After months of anticipation, the finalists, main partners, category and associate sponsors, judges and guests gathered at Greetham Valley to celebrate all that is great about business in the Stamford and Rutland area.

Click here to see a photo gallery of last night's winners.

Hosted by Rutland Radio's Rob Persani, the winners in 10 categories each took home a trophy made from Lincolnshire Limestone which was kindly supplied by Clipsham Stone Cutting Company. There were 27 businesses represented with three shortlisted in each of the categories.

Addressing the audience of more than 260 guests, Rutland and Stamford Mercury editor Kerry Coupe said the evening was "about celebrating the best of our community" and said the standard of entries had once again been incredibly high.

The evening began with a drinks reception, kindly sponsored by Moore Thompson, and canapes, giving guests an early opportunity to network.

Before the meal, Claire Lomas, who was left paralysed from the chest down after a horse riding accident in 2007, talked about what gave her the motivation to battle back.

During a delicious meal, guests had the opportunity to enter a prize draw and donated generously to the Mercury's nominated charity The Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation - a charity close to Claire's heart. Prizes included a unique framed star-map of the night sky above Greetham Valley; two vouchers for Stamford Shakespeare Company's 2020 productions at Tolethorpe; and a golfing voucher. More than £1,300 was raised from the draw.

During the awards ceremony, videos produced by Leo Media, were shown throughout the presentation giving guests a flavour of each business or individual and why they deserved to be finalists.

The winners were:

• Best New Start-Up: Quibble Content (Uppingham)- Sponsored by Hegarty LLP

• Best Independent Retailer: Peters' Cleaners (Stamford) - Sponsored by Oldrids & Downtown

• Business Innovation: Pocket Sergeant (Market Deeping) - Sponsored by Alltech

• Best Social Enterprise: MindSpace Stamford - Sponsored by New College Stamford

• Customer Care: Emma Savage Travel Counsellor (Wittering) - Sponsored by Bluebird Care

• Great Taste: Knife Fork and Spooner (Ketton) - Judged by Richard Olsen, of Stamford Chamber of Commerce

• Employee or Team of the Year: Efficient Portfolio (Oakham) - Sponsored by MorePeople

• Businesssperson of the Year: Chris Needham, The Danish Invader (Stamford) - Sponsored by Duncan & Toplis

• Small Business of the Year: Old English Company (Uffington) - Sponsored by Greetham Valley

• Large Business of the Year: Urban Edge Architecture (Stamford) - Sponsored by Chattertons

Mercury editor Kerry Coupe said afterwards: "Once again the Mercury Business Awards were a tremendous success and we were delighted to share the amazing achievements of our winners and finalists, all of whom should be congratulated.

"My thanks also go to our sponsors and supporters - without you the event just would not be possible - and especially to Greetham Valley, who once again were fantastic hosts. It really was an amazing night."

Our thanks go to our headline sponsor InvestSK; sponsors: MorePeople, Bluebird Care, Chattertons, Duncan and Toplis, Greetham Valley, Hegarty Solicitors, Alltech, New College Stamford and Oldrids and Downtown; and associate sponsors: Clipsham Stone Cutting Company, Greensleaves Florist, Leo Media, Moore Thompson and Posterhaste.

• A special supplement will be in next week's Mercury, featuring pictures and full reports from the night, out on Friday, September 27.