Croydon Business Awards is encouraging companies to show off their success as the search begins to find the best businesses in the borough.

South London Business launched the programme of awards on Thursday January 19 at a prestigious event held in Fairfield Halls’ spectacular foyer, attended by more than 100 VIP guests.

Peter Pledger, Chief Executive of South London Business told guests: “We need to make a fuss about Croydon and promote it and these awards are a great way to do it as it celebrates the success of business in Croydon, a place we consider to be the centre of south London.”

The awards have already attracted top sponsors including headline sponsors Barclays Bank, Owadally and King, Lloyds, Zurich Insurance, Federation of Small Businesses, Wing Yip, Fairfield Halls, Southern Railway and Croydon Park Hotel.

Mike Humphries, Senior Business Director of Barclays Business London, was encouraged by the potential in Croydon: “Businesses in Croydon are dynamic and vibrant and the area has a big future ahead with lots of investment planned. These awards are a great way to celebrate during a time of spending cuts and recession, we hope there is a record number of entries this year as there are some fantastic business stories from which we can all learn.”

The awards provide all entrants with not only a great opportunity to promote themselves in the run up to the event but also have long-term benefits, as Keith Kingham of Kingham’s Croydon found when his company won three awards, including Business of the Year, last year, he said: “The last couple of years have been challenging to say the least, but when times are hard it is even more important to raise your profile, winning these awards was the icing on the cake for us and has been very beneficial.”

Entry of the awards is free and can be done online at www.croydonbusinessawards.co.uk with the deadline for entries on 16 March 2012.

The awards will culminate with a gala awards ceremony at the Arnhem Gallery in Fairfield Halls on 2 May and all finalists will be automatically entered to represent Croydon in the annual South London Business Awards, to be held in June 2012.

The Croydon Business Awards provide a great opportunity to showcase your company and its achievements as well as receive valuable media exposure during the competition and after the grand final.