NorthChamber Business Excellence Award winners announced

23 Feb, 2022

The long awaited results of the 2021 NorthChamber Northland Business Excellence Awards are out with Whangarei business Foreno Tapware voted Supreme Winner and Raewyn Tipene inducted into the Hall of Fame.

NorthChamber chief executive Steve Smith says he has immense respect for all finalists and winners of the 18 categories following multiple delays in reaching the finale of Northland’s pinnacle business event. The awards were originally scheduled for October 29, 2021.

“Every business who threw their hat in the ring for the awards stuck with it, despite the Covid challenges we had to contend with along the way, and the judges were brilliant in the way they went about navigating the ever changing landscape,” says Mr Smith.

“The Foreno team were simply outstanding and thoroughly deserving of their award, as were all of the other category winners and finalists. For those who did not win their categories I sincerely hope they have another go in the 2022 awards which are really only just around the corner.

“Equally I can’t say enough about Raewyn’s addition to the Hall of Fame. What she has done for the community over the decades is simply amazing. We are truly blessed to have community and business leaders like Raewyn in our midst in Northland. The impact she has had on the community and in particularly Maoridom, is substantial, and she is showing no signs of slowing down.

Mr Smith says the addition of Top Energy and Northpower as principal sponsors has added a lot of strength to the awards and he is looking forward to leveraging off that even more in the lead up to the 2022 awards later this year.

“Having our two locally owned electricity lines companies backing us has helped take the awards to a whole new level. They bring so much to the table – business acumen, humility and a real sense of community. They are passionate about giving back to their shareholder owners in every part of the communities that make up Northland.

“We are equally grateful for the support of all of our sponsors, many of whom have supported the awards for a long time. And we look forward to

working with them in the lead up to the 2022 awards later this year,” says Mr Smith.

Principal sponsors Top Energy and Northpower have joined NorthChamber in thanking the judging panel and congratulating all winners and entrants in the delayed awards. See a display of all category finalists and winners at northlandbusinessawards.co.nz.

Chief executives Russell Shaw and Andrew McLeod respectively, believe the efforts of entrants have been immense under extremely trying circumstances and the two principal sponsors are encouraging businesses to start preparing their entries for the 2022 awards. The awards have been running for 44 years.

n Entries for the 2022 NorthChamber Northland Business Excellence Awards open in April. Find out more at northlandbusinessawards.co.nz.

There is no cost to enter the awards, you do not need to be a member of NorthChamber and there are significant benefits for all businesses who enter, including free independent feedback and recommendations on building business capability.

Pictured from left: Greg Atkins (Convenor of Judges, BDO), Belinda Peddie (Top Energy), Jon Doherty and Kerry Lord (Foreno Tapware), Andrew McLeod (Northpower)