JUDGING PROCESS
Judging steps
In the first stage of the process, the judges will review your written application and decide which businesses will progress to stage 2.
Stage two includes a site visit, which will take about two hours. The judges will ask questions including about your application, your business and anything else they might find relevant.
The judges will then decide who the finalist and winners are for each category and supply feedback which will be shared with your after the Gala Dinner.
Hear what our Head Judge, Dr Heather Connolly, has to say about why you should enter the Business Awards!
2024 Judges
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf3d28-e07e-4ff3-a081-303b3676a220/9bcf3d28-e094-44bc-b58f-3598007bfc0f/w2700h3600-06_Heather_Connolly_9July2017.jpg)
Head Judge
Dr Heather Connolly
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9c8c5940-3ad8-4eb4-9b54-474fba13dda2/9c8c5bf0-ff15-4f42-9f1c-e94df96b8768/w433h577-Andrew_van_Oosten-removebg-preview.png)
Andrew van Oosten
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf583d-faaa-47dc-8c6c-6f8f8f963edc/9bcf583d-fbe2-4563-bb20-095b2295d747/w2250h3000-03_Geoff_Furniss_14Aug2019_3000px.jpg)
Geoff Furniss
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5844-8579-42e0-84c6-1851fda37d9b/9bcf5844-8699-48f5-8d27-4e85142bd108/w2700h3600-19_Jessica_Fearnley_30Aug2022_3600px.jpg)
Jessica Fearnley
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf583f-247f-4e51-9966-1fba20ff9648/9bcf583f-258e-41e8-b89b-dedc3a02d8b2/w2700h3600-03_Kirstyn_Beuzeval_5Aug2020_3600px.jpg)
Kirstyn Beuzeval
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5845-1427-4020-bec8-2a189a1ac01a/9bcf5845-1572-471c-aac1-f6ed798fd8ff/w2700h3600-21_Melanie_Reid_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Melanie Reid
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5848-1f26-4895-9145-f94842c171f4/9bcf5848-2023-4361-8ab5-6099a9e6a747/w2700h3600-39_Tony_Begbie_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Tony Begbie
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bd33c9c-7c89-4b3c-afa1-f80225589941/9bd33c9c-7ded-4135-8ad3-351dedf7bfbd/w2700h3600-77_Brendhan_Greaney_30Sep2021_3600px.jpg)
Brendhan Greaney
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5846-0eaa-4b3c-8017-a97e02efdd8e/9bcf5846-1006-468f-af3a-93395ac0b110/w2700h3600-23_Gwendoline_Keel_13Sept2022_3600px.jpg)
Gwendoline Keel
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf583c-f675-47f6-a87b-9c8a63676a85/9bcf583c-f93a-4dbe-87d0-7741da029759/w2700h3600-01_Jane_Hill_8Aug2018_3600px.jpg)
Jane Hill
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf584a-ddc0-4a9f-9baa-73474f8077c7/9c8c58d6-2413-4fa2-9bc5-b73747e7e9fb/w2700h3600-13_Kim_Hill_17Jul2024_3600px.jpg)
Kim Hill
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5846-9182-4a51-9599-5171a41ee776/9c8e3cbd-bd11-4661-8fbc-9dd2576e0669/w2700h3600-19_Rhys_Harvey_17Jul2024_3600px.jpg)
Rhys Harvey
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9c8c8d78-367c-43d3-a1d3-a09589c2ab29/9c8c8f69-4925-4b81-a10b-a88858979a8a/w2700h3600-25_Bridget_Smith_17Jul2024_3600px.jpg)
Bridget Smith
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5847-a704-483c-b8e6-38dd49aa1279/9bcf5847-a82a-443c-a586-4c9a240414d3/w2700h3600-34_Hamish_Ward_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Hamish Ward
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf583e-9875-4917-90cd-66509853a1fe/9c8c314c-c0f5-4c48-abac-a37acd30c839/w1200h1200-Jon%20Calder%20Tompkins%20Wake%20Waikato%20Chamber%20Business%20Awards%202024.png)
Jon Calder
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5843-7ef8-4753-ba3d-779fb1afb1af/9bcf5843-801a-4f33-9bfa-5251751dbfd7/w2700h3600-14_Kylie_Harcourt_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Kylie Harcourt
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf584a-7b29-4a0e-8743-4d292a5cd408/9bcf584a-7c5e-4728-9260-74d74ae33738/w2250h3000-Untitled%2520design%2520%25288%2529.png)
Rachel Afeaki
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bd33c9b-de0f-4744-b1e1-a82e9c25decc/9bd33c9b-df2b-4a70-b163-b109feaff8f7/w2700h3600-07_Kylie_Harcourt_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Dick Breukink
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf583d-7616-42e3-adfd-e5eeb0dfc105/9bcf583d-7738-4121-83f8-3c2888576ea9/w2700h3600-002B_Jason_Dawson_Oct2019_3600px.jpg)
Jason Dawson
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5847-1941-456d-8a69-7a7135c8fb18/9bcf5847-1ac3-4fac-8ef9-a81b4ac82933/w2700h3600-26_Jono_Peart_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Jono Peart
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5849-fcdb-4ad3-a9ce-45f3c4918b1b/9bcf5849-fdf6-48e4-9364-aa6b19c52707/w2250h3000-1.png)
Lisbeth Jacobs
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5843-fb9e-4aa7-b63e-817b65c887d7/9bcf5843-fcc2-47f6-a740-dc6558564a59/w2700h3600-18_Sam_Hood_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Sam Hood
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf584b-48c6-4ef6-9da1-cac5b1d9cd1b/9bcf584b-4a50-48e8-ac50-c4d54a3acf7a/w2250h3000-4.png)
Dylan Shell
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5845-8f79-49ad-a0e5-1dc7694d6745/9bcf5845-909e-41e2-804d-edf9748dc56a/w2700h3600-22_Jason_Trower_21July2021_3600px.jpg)
Jason Trower
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5842-28f3-49e8-bba7-b9a4bb5ac746/9c8c58ff-ca2e-4d0d-8dd5-009d49e37872/w2700h3600-29_Jo_Goodwin_17Jul2024_3600px.jpg)
Jo Goodwin
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5848-95ae-4483-9dcc-c20c3eae4c86/9bcf5848-96b7-4946-aeb1-daf3360bec36/w2700h3600-42_Muhammad_Cajee_15Aug2023_3600px.jpg)
Muhammad Cajee
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5842-985a-4ba4-a53b-1766ce4a358f/9bcf5842-99b2-4449-8e6b-0ecf80d24e1f/w2250h3000-07_Scott_Ratuki_14Aug2019_3000px.jpg)
Scott Ratuki
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5843-057a-42e2-bbc9-6326c51bd2bb/9c8c8d33-d6be-460f-8df9-ffe1bca9ec8c/w2700h3600-08_Eddie_Stocks_17Jul2024_3600px.jpg)
Eddie Stocks
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5840-ae74-4e64-8771-5defb18cc0b5/9bcf5840-af80-4438-8418-df16f13fcc16/w2700h3600-06_Jason_Cowan_21July2021_3600px.jpg)
Jason Cowan
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5849-8334-4d53-b56c-999979f5d768/9bcf5849-8482-4878-ba2b-37450889507f/w2700h3600-368_Company-X_March2021_3600px.jpg)
Jeremy Hughes
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5841-a41f-4c2e-9cd7-15b4fc8ea541/9bcf5841-a591-4ab0-9a19-1f475dc4db28/w2700h3600-09_Michelle_Baillie_8Aug2018_3600px.jpg)
Michelle Baillie
![](https://dzpdbgwih7u1r.cloudfront.net/96a7134f-da12-4e29-bcd3-5f5fcbcc7408/9bcf5849-062c-4bd7-aec4-79ee30ee1191/9bcf5849-0743-41b1-a7e0-656831c05189/w2700h3600-67_Pat_Mellsop_30Sep2021_3600px.jpg)
Pat Mellsop