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Tuesday 21 April 2026

​On Friday 17 April, local businesses packed out Runnymede Hall to celebrate the Mayor’s Business and Community Awards.

Business representatives enjoyed a three-course dinner and entertainment from our compere, the wonderful Steve Walls. After dinner, the awards were presented by the Deputy Lieutenant, Dr Margaret Wilson, the High Sheriff of Essex, Mrs Susannah Dutton, the Mayor of Castle Point, Cllr Barry Campagna, and the category sponsors.

Mayor's award photo
 

Now in their 15th year, these awards celebrate the volunteers, entrepreneurs, local businesses and innovators who keep our community moving forward. The response this year was incredible, and we saw our most competitive awards yet, across eight business categories.

The judging team, which included the Mayor, Castle Point Borough Council’s Economic Development team, and two independent judges from the business world, visited all of the shortlisted businesses.

To list just a few of the highlights from the evening:

  • Octopus Networks took home the accolade of ‘Business of the Year’
  • Hair Pro 1 received the Business Community Champion Award
  • for the first time ever, we saw two remarkable apprentices both win the Apprentice of the Year award
  • Sandra Cripps was named Resident Community Champion
  • the first ever award of Young Community Champion was awarded to Hollie Herbert

See the full list of winners and runner-ups

We would like to thank our platinum sponsor, Essex County Council, and main event sponsors D4P Media and c2c. We'd also like to thank our category sponsors; USP College, Octopus Networks, Fi911 Chargebacks, Essex Architectural Planning, Let's Do Business Group, and Calor. There will be opportunities to sponsor the event in 2027, so if you would like to express an early interest in sponsoring, you can do so by emailing business@castlepoint.gov.uk.