THE best of Wrexham business is being celebrated with a new event.

At the end of October, a team of 20 judges - who represented the private, public and third sectors - came together at Best Companies’ café in Llay, to share their deliberations and final scores for the inaugural Wrexham Business and Community Awards (WBCA). The shortlisted companies have now been announced, and the winners will be named at the awards ceremony on Friday, November 10.

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WBCA organisers revealed received well over 80 entries into the awards, which have been launched to celebrate business and the wider community in Wrexham. The submissions have come from companies of all sizes and all sectors, and the team is thrilled so many companies have taken the time to complete their submissions.

Samantha Jones, WBCA founding member, said: “The calibre of entries has been incredibly high, and our judges had an unenviable job of narrowing the submissions down to a final shortlist, but with the careful guidance from our independent adjudicators from Best Companies, they did it.”

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She added: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank our judges for their time preparing for the judging day and participating in the session so thoroughly, and Best Companies for its expert guidance. We would also like to thank our sponsors and of course all the businesses that have taken the time to enter, it was fascinating to read their stories and it is easy to see why Wrexham is becoming the place to do good business.

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“We look forward to seeing many of you on the awards night, but for now, all that remains is to wish the shortlisted organisations good luck. We look forward to celebrating Wrexham businesses and the wider community.”

The awards were free to enter and it was straightforward to submit an entry. Further details on the awards visit: www.wrexhambca.co.uk/the-awards

The WBCA categories shortlist 2023:

• Social Enterprise Award: Advance Brighter Futures; Litegreen Foundation CIC; Glyn Wylfa

• Up and Coming Award: Populi Media; Toast Café and Deli; The Uncommon Practice

• One Wrexham Award: FOCUS Wales; Wrexham AFC; Wrexham Rugby Club

• Next Generation Award: Moneypenny; JCB Transmissions; Kellogg’s Co of GB

• Business Learning Award: FOCUS Wales; Xplore!; Delta Academy

• Green Wrexham Award: Platts Agriculture Ltd; Eco-Readymix; Beech Avenue Brewery

• Spirit of Wrexham Award: JCB Transmissions; Queensway Community Group; Net World Sports; Litegreen; AVOW

• Gwobr Cymraeg Award: FOCUS Wales; Saith Seren - Clwb Clebran; InstaSim