As we kick off the Wiltshire Business Awards 2020, we take a look back at last year’s winners and find out what they think about entering.

IT service provider Bechtle Direct won the first-ever Best Business award and the highest honour of the night, the Outstanding Excellence award, at the 2019 ceremony last May.

The Chippenham company has entered several times and won gongs like Best Medium-Sized Business, Best Customer and Staff Care, and Business Person of the Year for managing director James Depp.

But 2019 was its best year so far.

Beth Tomlins from Bechtle said: “We really enjoyed it. Each year we invite more people along and book more tables as our business keeps growing and there’s always a nice atmosphere at the ceremony.

“It’s not too formal and fancy or over-the-top. Everyone is very welcoming and down-to-earth, it’s always a really good night.

“Last year was particularly good because it fell on the night of our 20th anniversary so after celebrating in the office during the day, we went to the awards and just kept going.

“It’s good to get to know other local businesses at the ceremony, which is a local event but it doesn’t feel small-scale.”

This year we have moved the awards to November from the traditional May slot and tweaked the categories.

Adver editor Pete Gavan said: “Our Business Awards are highly-regarded and a fantastic way to shine a light on the brilliant work Wiltshire businesses are doing.

“It’s our 26th year and we’ve continued to move with the times tweaking our categories to best represent how business is today. So please, if you run a business large or small, take the time to enter – you won’t regret it.”

We’ll be giving more information about how your business can enter in the coming weeks.

For more email wbawards@wiltshire.newsquest.co.uk