THE cream of crop will be honoured tonight to recognise the difference they make to the business community and Bury as a whole.

The sixth annual Made in Bury Business Awards are taking place tonight in Prestwich.

The awards are presented by Made in Bury, in partnership with Bury Council, thebestofbury and Tower FM.

More than 360 guests will come together at the black-tie event to honour and celebrate the hard work of Bury’s best businesses and organisations.

Applications for the awards opened earlier this year. All shortlisted businesses attended a meet and greet session on October 5 where they were asked to deliver a short presentation and answer a series of questions from the judging panel. This was their chance to show the judges why they were the most deserving business for this year’s awards.

With the competition getting tougher every year, the judges faced the increasingly difficult task of selecting which businesses would go through as finalists in each of the 20 categories.

Now in the sixth year, businesses really need to stand out from the crowd in order to make it through!

The 2018 finalists are:

Best in Class - Start-Up Business - Sponsored by NatWest

Funtime Activities Sports

Scene My Event

Slate Barbers

Stay N Play Doggy Daycare

Best in Class – Creative - Sponsored by Stables Country Club

Bridget Aherne Communications

Icon Kitchen Studio Ltd

Pink Labrador PR & Communications

Best in Class - Motoring & Transport - Sponsored by The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity

Cartime

Extreme Car Care

Get Driving Today

The Woodcocks Haworth & Nuttall Manufacturing & Engineering Award

Brighter Blinds

Easy Crypto Hunter

Molygran & Co

Best in Class - Backing Young Bury - Sponsored by Horsfield & Smith

Car Benefit Solutions

Military Standard Training Ltd

Sparkles Academy of Performing Arts

Best in Class - Food & Drink

Sponsored by E. Anthony Orme Gallery

The Coach at Edenfield

The Fisherman’s Retreat

The Mouse Trap

The Connect Comms Award Health & Beauty

Lavender Hotels

Military Standard Training

Slate Barbers

The Nettl of Bury, Professional, Legal & Financial Award

Munro Greenhalgh

PM+M Solutions for Business LLP

Woodcocks Haworth & Nuttall

Best in Class – Technology

Sponsored by Platinum Care

Easy Crypto Hunter

MSL

Orthinc

The H.H.Smith & Sons Environmental Impact Award

Molygran & Co

Senior Waste Removals

Stay N Play Doggy Daycare

Best in Class– Retailer Award - Sponsored by Cartime

Hills Pet Shop

Icon Kitchen Studio Ltd

LNK Motors

The AFG LAW Property & Construction Award

Belvoir Bury

Icon Kitchen Studio Ltd

Luke Barnett Property Management

Best in Class Award - Tourism & Leisure - Sponsored by Complete Driveway Designs

East Lancashire Railway

Funtime Activities

Lavender Hotels

The BusinessLodge Award for Customer Excellence

AFG LAW

Car Benefit Solutions

LNK Motors

Best in Class - Family Business

Sponsored by Square Peg Associates

The Fisherman’s Retreat

Lavender Hotels

Molygran & Co

The Longden & Cook Excellence in Developing People Award

AFG LAW

Military Standard Training

PM+M Solutions for Business LLP

Recycling Lives

Best in Class - Community Impact - Sponsored by Bury College

Street Pastors

The Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity

The Victoria

Best in Class – Large Business - Sponsored by Sambro

Car Benefit Solutions

Cartime

Rakem

The Milliken Businessman of the Year Award

David McCann – Woodcocks Haworth & Nuttall

Hervey Magnall – The Fisherman’s Retreat

Mike Tobin – SAFE

Bury Businesswoman of the Year - Sponsored by Rakem

Cath Harrop - Carriages Hair & Beauty

Hannah Broughton – Twinkleboost

Helen Clayton – PM+M Solutions for Business LLP

There isn’t much longer to wait until the winners are announced. Best of luck to everyone taking part!

See next week’s Bury Times for an eight-page winners’ pull-out.