The City of Sydney congratulates all the Sydney businesses that shone at the NSW Business Chamber Business Awards 2015 on Friday night.

Leading Sydney businesses from Glebe, Newtown, Walsh Bay and the city centre were celebrated alongside businesses from across the state at the gala awards dinner.

“These annual awards recognise success in business leadership, ethics, innovation, sustainability, employment and export, and they’ve been an excellent showcase for our small business sector,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“It was good to see Sydney businesses holding their own among the finest in the state, and I congratulate them for being recognised at a state level.”

The businesses were shortlisted from across the local government area, having competed in the new Sydney City regional awards program in July, run by the NSW Business Chamber and sponsored by the City.

Judges for the Sydney City Regional Awards and the NSW Business Chamber State Business Awards are selected from subject matter experts or practitioners in the area relating to the award category, academics in the field, award category sponsors and NSW Business Chamber representatives.

The City was a proud sponsor of the Excellence in Small Business award segment of the NSW Awards, and will continue to support the awards next year. The award was this year won by The Perfect Wave Travel Company, from Brookvale in Sydney’s north.

The City will again be conducting the business awards across its local government area next year, as part of the NSW Business Chamber awards program.

The City of Sydney businesses shortlisted for the 2015 NSW Business Chamber’s Business Awards included:

Simmer on the Bay

Business Leader – Simmer on the Bay, Walsh Bay

Brigid Kennedy has been Managing Director of Simmer on the Bay, a renowned catering and events space in the Walsh Bay arts precinct, since 2005. She is also a published author and expert chef.
Brigid mentors her staff, helps them work towards their chosen career paths, not just during their time at Simmer on the Bay, but also after they have outgrown the business and are ready to strike out on their own.
She belongs to two business chambers and has the chance to inspire and work first-hand with the younger members of those chambers, sharing advice and advocating for their businesses.

Employer of Choice – The Shepherd Centre, Newtown

The Shepherd Centre offers a variety of family-centred critical services under one roof at their head office in Newtown, continuously expands its range of programs and invests in research, technology and innovation. The centre maintains focus on staff retention through flexible working conditions, team building and training.

Excellence in Business – The Shepherd Centre, Newtown

Not-for-profit The Shepherd Centre is an organisation teaching children with hearing loss in NSW, ACT and Tasmania to listen and speak. It offers a variety of family-centred critical services under one roof, with the office based in Newtown.
The centre credits clear leadership and vision from the board and executive team for allowing the organisation to expand without losing its focus on staff and the families who need them.
The Shepherd Centre is recognised as a leader in its field, providing world-class services to families.
Sustainable growth in fundraising is key to the organisation, which strives to satisfy the growing demand from families.

Excellence in Business Ethics – D&M Research, city centre

D&M Research is a boutique, full service research agency, passionate about research, clients and successful organisations. The company constantly reviews the ethics of its business practices and any relevance implications to projects and clients. D&M Research is also a carbon neutral company that cares about the impact of its activities on the environment.

Excellence in Export – Australian Institute of Professional Education, city centre

Isil Sam is the Chief Finance Officer at the Australian Institute of Professional Education (AIPE), an innovative vocational education provider based in Sydney CBD, offering both on-site and online e-learning.
Ms Sam says she is focused on quality, productivity and standards in the organisation and encourages the next generation of upcoming leaders at AIPE with simple advice: “break down large tasks into simple manageable projects and always keep in mind the objectives of those projects to keep your focus”.
Although she has a wealth of experience in her field, she says she keeps learning and growing her knowledge.

Excellence in Innovation – Glebe Family Medical Practice, Glebe

Glebe Family Medical Practice has delivered medical care to the local community for over 30 years. Its experienced team of doctors offer fully-accredited patient-centred care, including travel vaccination clinic, complex and chronic disease management and women and children’s health care.
The practice also supports the Closing the Gap Indigenous Reform Agenda and works to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and early childhood development in the local community.
The practice has recently introduced a free screening tool for atrial fibrillation (abnormal rhythm of the heart that is associated with a high risk for stroke) for patients aged 65 and over when they attend for their annual flu vaccination. This screening tool allows their doctors to offer preventive treatment to those who need it and it can decreases their risk of stroke.

Excellence in Small Business (City of Sydney sponsored) – FIRESOFT Consulting, city centre

FIRESOFT Consulting is a specialist IT recruitment and executive consulting firm based in central Sydney and serving clients Australia-wide. FIRESOFT credits its growth in the last year to “big plans tightly underpinned by a strong vision, mission and set of values that the whole team is passionate about”.
The company purposely works more closely with a restricted number of clients, emphasising strong relationships and winning repeat business.

Excellence in Sustainability – SMC Conference and Function Centre, city centre

Central Sydney venue, SMC Conference and Function Centre offers a 100 per cent accessible, purpose-built centre which gives its clients a complete conference solution with modern and stylish facilities.
The venue is committed to sustainability and has had a green policy in place since its construction 35 years ago. It orders only fresh, seasonal local produce for their events catering, closely monitors its carbon emissions and uses low-energy, electronic posters to promote the venue.

Local Chamber of Commerce – Glebe Chamber of Commerce, Glebe

Glebe Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to the revitalisation of Glebe and to helping their members access opportunities for their businesses throughout Sydney and NSW. It organises the annual Glebe Street Fair and other initiatives to engage local businesses with their community.
The Glebe Chamber is trialling a number of innovative programs with local businesses. It has recently launched glebe.com.au providing local businesses with an affordable and easy-to-use platform to find everything they ever wanted to know about Glebe, supporting them to become more productive, connected and sustainable.

Young Business Executive – Daniel Moss, Vertical Financial Solutions, city centre

Daniel Moss is co-founder and managing director of Vertical Financial Solutions (VFS), an independent advisory firm specialising in wealth management.
Daniel has hands-on experience in establishing and managing financial services businesses and is passionate about investment markets. He says teamwork and partnerships are key to the company’s success as well as hard work and commitment to its strategy.

Young Entrepreneur – Kris Spann, The Works, Glebe

Building and projects manager Kris Spann runs The Works, a multi-level warehouse space in Glebe offering co-working, studio, accommodation, classroom and retail space for creative practitioners to design, make and exhibit their works.
To build the business, Kris started out thinking about what creative businesses and practitioners would need under the one roof. The spaces he has created, which took three years to realise, are helping and inspiring dynamic, innovative people to produce great work.