Movers and shakers from across the local business community joined forces for the launch of the 2009 Oxfordshire Business of the Year Awards. Previous winners, sponsors and those keen to enter enjoyed a special celebration lunch in the new Building 97 at Milton Park with many revealing how beneficial participating in the awards had been.

Stuart Miller, whose company ByBox, based at Grove, near Wantage, was the 2008 Business of the Year, said: “The most helpful thing was the pride it created among staff. It was a jolt for us, so that we could stop and ask why we had won, why we were so successful.

“We have the logo on all our stationery — it’s something that endures beyond the awards night, wonderful though that was.”

Andy Firth, of Summertown-based Holiday Lettings, a web-based business where owners advertise their holiday homes, was representing his co-founder Ross Elder who won the Business Link Young Business Person of the Year title.

He said: “It has been really good for the company — it was a rubber stamp of how well we have been doing.

“It is also excellent for staff morale and also helps with recruiting new staff as we are still expanding.”

Richard Peacock, of Didcot-based Soha Housing, which won the Champion Recruitment Customer and Staff Care award, said: “It was great for our staff to have their hard work recognised. Week in, week out, people are answering thousands of calls, and it can be a bit of a grind. I think they do a terrific job, and it was nice to have that recognised.”

Jemma Proctor, of design agency One, based in Summertown, said winning the Fox FM Creative award had helped the company bounce back after its Headington premises were destroyed in a fire.

She said: “We don’t usually enter awards, but it was a way of saying ‘well done’ to the team.”

Claire Jarvis, of Chipping Norton Lido, which won The Oxford Times Charity and Community award, said it helped give her organisation gravitas when it applied for grants.

“It feels as if someone has given us an MoT and said ‘You are doing a good job’.”

Chairman Paul Lowe, of Darbys Solicitors, announced a new category — the Business Link New Business Award, open to start-ups less than four years old.

Organisers have also changed the name of the two personal awards. The Business Person of the Year becomes the Bottle PR Business Entrepreneur of the Year and thereis also the Shaw Gibbs Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for those aged under 35.