Waikato Business News | December 1, 2023
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22 FEATURE<br />
DECEMBER <strong>2023</strong><br />
A Central City<br />
Extravaganza<br />
With fanfare and festival the CBD Awards once again<br />
delivered a night of recognition and celebration of<br />
Hamilton’s central city business community. The<br />
annual awards sponsored by Spark and delivered by<br />
the Hamilton Central <strong>Business</strong> Association (HCBA),<br />
saw nearly 100 businesses compete in their respective<br />
sectors across 12 categories for a podium finish.<br />
The CBD Awards is the time for businesses to put their best<br />
foot forward. HCBA General Manager Vanessa Williams<br />
says “It is such a pleasure to see such a fantastic range<br />
of businesses enter the awards. Our local businesses are<br />
achieving a great many things from set-up to expansion<br />
and they should be recognised for this. Shouting about<br />
achievements is not a natural space for many people and<br />
I admire those who take the plunge to put themselves<br />
and their businesses out there to be judged. I think it<br />
actually surprises a lot of entrants to realise as they are<br />
writing their entry how much they have achieved.”<br />
All award entries were judged twice. Entrants submitted<br />
a written entry assessed by a panel of judges and then<br />
depending on the type of business, they were also<br />
judged by a mystery shopper or had a video created<br />
to be assessed by another judging panel. Overall, the<br />
entries were superb and feedback from judges was on<br />
the difficulty of choosing a top three in each category.<br />
“Spark <strong>Business</strong>, a major sponsor, has been supporting the<br />
CBD Awards for five consecutive years. Fabian Pathirana,<br />
Manager Spark Hub Hamilton, stated that the local business<br />
community is of paramount importance to the city. We<br />
are proud to put our name to support their recognition<br />
and celebration. The CBD Awards evening is a highlight of<br />
the social calendar for many, and, like Spark <strong>Business</strong>, the<br />
awards epitomize connection, empowerment, and success.”<br />
The CBD Awards was held in the Roose Common Park,<br />
with Stu & Camille from the Breeze MCing the evenings<br />
proceedings. With the <strong>Waikato</strong> River, Hamilton’s best natural<br />
resource, providing the backdrop for the evening, Royal<br />
Lab event designers created a splash of glamour with a<br />
Hampton pitched roof marquee on the riverbank. Attendees<br />
were welcomed into the event hearing the rich baritone<br />
voice of professional crooner Steve Carlin with decor,<br />
furniture and lighting adding to the elegance of the venue.<br />
Utilising their expertise SBI Productions rose to the<br />
challenge of providing full event production and lighting at a<br />
site with little infrastructure and Moving Media recorded the<br />
beauty of the evening, the attendees and the award winners,<br />
with a range of stunning imagery captured on the night.<br />
HCBA Chairman Dwight Egelhof summed the evening<br />
up best saying “After the numerous challenges that<br />
have faced local businesses over the past three years,<br />
it is an honour and a privilege to provide an evening<br />
that recognises, celebrates and rewards business<br />
achievements. We know the local business community is<br />
what makes our city unique and to have the opportunity<br />
to share their achievements with an audience of their<br />
peers is what makes the CBD Awards truly special.”<br />
Vanessa Williams & Vicky Redwood (HCBA)