THE best businesses in Somerset were celebrated in style, as the winners of the 2016 Somerset Business Awards were unveiled.

Following another fantastic year of entries from over 100 companies, nearly 400 influential Somerset business professionals joined together to celebrate this year’s business successes from across the county.

The finalists and sponsors attended the prestigious black tie dinner on Friday October 21, held at Wellsprings Leisure Centre in Taunton.

BBC news presenter and national TV personality, Alex Lovell, hosted the Somerset Business Awards this year.

She said: “The Somerset Business Awards are a fantastic opportunity to recognise best practise, innovation and ambition in both new and established businesses.

"Who doesn’t love positive feedback and recognition? It’s a joy to be part of such a celebratory event.”

Albert Goodman was the main sponsor of the Awards for the seventh consecutive year.

Managing partner, Richard Bugler, said: “The calibre of this year’s entrants has been better than ever, and the finalists should be extremely proud to be here.

"As a firm deeply rooted in Somerset, we are very proud to support the Awards and celebrate the success of great businesses throughout the county.”

The Award winners were:

Albert Goodman Family Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Albert Goodman

  • 1. Holiday Resort Unity & Brean Leisure Park
  • Runner-ups: Oneline Surveys Ltd and Frogmary Green Farm

Business of the Year 1-10, sponsored by Glyder Ltd

  • 1. Care Focus (South West) CIC
  • Runner-ups: Farm Toys Online and Petruth Paddocks Limited

Business of the Year 11-25, sponsored by A.C. Mole & Sons

  • 1. Teapot Creative Ltd
  • Runner-ups: Filberts Fine Foods Ltd and Rebecca Bevins HR Consultancy Ltd

Business of the Year 26-50, sponsored by EDF Energy

  • 1. DNA Worldwide Ltd
  • Runner-ups: Oake Manor Golf Club Ltd and Melhuish & Saunders Ltd

Business of the Year 51+, sponsored by Higos Insurance Services

  • 1. Yeovil College
  • Runner-ups: Claims Consortium Group and Bridgwater & Taunton College

Charity of the Year Award, sponsored by Clarke Willmott LLP

  • 1. The Hub Yeovil, Community Support Charity
  • Runner-ups: Secret World Wildlife Rescue and We Hear You

Environmental Award, sponsored by Porter Dodson Solicitors

  • 1. Frogmary Green Farm
  • Runner-ups: Holiday Resort Unity & Brean Leisure Park and Prolectric Services Ltd

Marketing & Promotion Award, sponsored by ADPR Ltd

  • 1. DNA Worldwide Ltd
  • Runner-ups: Weston College and Reminiscence Learning

New Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Foot Anstey LLP

  • 1. Puddy Vehicles Solutions Ltd
  • Runner-ups: Elite Staffing Solutions (South West) Ltd and My Day Care Services Ltd

Service Excellence Award, sponsored by Somerset Chamber of Commerce

  • 1. Claims Consortium Group
  • Runner-ups: Willmots Transport Ltd and Black Swan Dental Spa Ltd

Skills for Growth Award, sponsored by Wessex RFCA

  • 1. One Step Recruitment Ltd
  • Runner-ups: Channel Training Ltd and Claims Consortium Group

Somerset Manufacturer Award, sponsored by Monahans

Young Business Employee of the Year Award, sponsored by Clarks

  • 1. James Cox (The Royal Bath & West of England Society)
  • Runner-ups: Charlotte Atkinson (Quedam Shopping Centre, Yeovil) and Sam Price (Integrated Data Needs)

Working together with Bridgwater and Taunton College, the finalists were filmed by media students who created a short film about each business.

The films were shown on the awards night and forms part of the students’ final course results.

You can find out more about the awards by visiting www.somersetbusinessawards.org.uk. or on Twitter at @SomBizAwards for all the latest news and updates with #SBA2016