In October 2023, we celebrated the winners of the Gloucestershire Business Awards, launched by the publishers of the Citizen and Echo, now Reach plc, in 1998. Little did we know at the time that the 25th anniversary celebration would be the last!
Sadly, Reach have released the following statement: “Due to the economic headwinds that we all face, significant increase in costs to host events, as well as budgets being challenged, we have decided to stop producing all regional and national events apart from the Pride of Britain and the Pride of Scotland in 2024.”
For the past 12 years, Randall & Payne have been the headline sponsor of the much-loved awards and we have enjoyed every minute of it. For us, it’s much more than the awards evening which is the culmination of over six months of activity. Each year we have come to look forward to meeting everyone at our launch breakfast, finalists’ celebration evening, the awards evening itself and our Winners’ Dinner.
Over 142 awards have been given to businesses and business people for the 11 events we have sponsored since 2012. Below are all the winners from 2023:
Tim Watkins, our Managing Partner, commented:
“It feels like the end of an era. I have enjoyed judging the entries year after year and finding out so much more about the wonderful businesses here in Gloucestershire. Occasionally learning about a hidden gem which I drive past regularly but never knew about. We thank Reach for putting on this spectacular event and are of course disappointed that it has come to an end. However, it’s best to end on a high and go out with a bang! And the 25th awards evening was most definitely one to remember!”
Ian Mean, former editor-in-chief of Gloucestershire Media, said:
“Over 25 years we built up the Gloucestershire Business Awards to be the largest newspaper awards in the UK.
“They were a great showcase for Gloucestershire’s great companies and, sadly, they are ending. The pressures on local media are such that cuts for survival simply have to be made”.
One element which Tim will not miss so much is the filming of the Randall & Payne video… We’ll have to find another excuse to make our annual video! Visit our Business Awards page to see the last couple of videos.
