THE winners of the Taunton Business Incentive Awards were announced this week at a special presentation ceremony at the Castle Hotel.
The annual competition offers businesses large and small across the district the chance to win a superb package of exposure, advice and support for the coming year.
The awards were organised by leaders and key members of the business community in Taunton, including Newsquest South-West, publisher of the County Gazette.
Francis Clark accountants is the promoter, and partner Martin Lock revealed the all-important names on Tuesday night at an event attended by Cllr Dave Durdan, Mayor of Taunton, and his wife Renée, and Rebecca Pow, prospective Conservative MP for Taunton.
Martin told the audience that judging the entries had been a difficult task as the level was so high, but he added that the future of Taunton’s business community looked healthy as a result of all the hard work which is being done locally.
The awards were split into two categories: turnover up to £100,000 and turnover between £101,000 and £1million.
Winner of the first award was BootUp PC, an IT solutions company set up by Spencer Blackaller with the aim of providing affordable solutions to businesses using the latest technology available.
Runner-up was Genius PR and Events and in third place was Townley Insurance.
In the category for larger businesses the winner was Mastergen, a new business which specialises in supplying dairy and beef genetics to farmers, using semen from two of the largest bull studs in Europe.
Runner-up was Apple Campers and in third place was Main Event Security.
The winners will each receive a raft of invaluable prizes given by the TBI partners: Santander, Amicus Law, Somerset Business Agency, The Castle at Taunton, Carly Press, Taunton Deane Council and Word Gets Around.
Rebbecca Pow said: “The Taunton Business Incentive awards event was a real success. By highlighting excellence amongst out small to medium-sized businesses in Taunton Deane it helps to illustrate just how important these businesses are to our local economy. 
“There were some inspiring stories of growth from Boot Up PC to Main Event Security, Genesis PR, Apple Campers and Mastergen, and it shows what can be achieved with the right economic framework in place nationally – something this Government has worked hard to achieve with the right support locally in terms of grants, advice and opportunities.”
The evening was sponsored by The Castle Hotel.