Bega' business community celebrated in glamorous fashion on Saturday as the 2021 Customer Service Excellence Awards were presented.
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Fittingly it was the first weekend with COVID-19 restrictions on singing, dancing and mask wearing all lifted.
The Bega Showground pavilion was looking wonderful, bedecked in a 1940s theme and red carpet entrance for some 370 guests at the sold-out event.
Although the heavy rain kept festivities indoors for the evening, the mood was far from dampened.
Adding to the party mood was that the awards were on at all, given they were originally to be held in October and then rescheduled to November, before being postponed again under pandemic restrictions - hence the "2021" awards.
Finalists across 18 categories of customer service and business excellence were announced before winners and highly conmmended awards were presented.
Congratulations were offered to:
Automotive - Winner MGM (highly commended GH mechanical)
Finance - Commonwealth Bank (St George)
Hospitality - Hudson's Coffee (Club Bega)
Agribusiness - Bega Motorcycles (Bega and Cobargo Veterinary Hospital)
Professional Services - Canning St Surgery (Australia Post)
Not for profit/Community - Tulgeen Riverside Nursery (Bega Library)
Health, Beauty and Wellness - United Fitness Studio (Affinity for Hair)
Tradesperson - Greg Eastman Electrical (Austin Air Conditioning)
Trades and Services - Coast Hire (Bega Fasteners and Industrial)
Retail - Big W (Coles Bega)
Retail with Additional Services - Betta Home Living (Tuff As Workwear)
Innovation - School of Strength (Bega Valley Innovation Hub)
Women in Business - Sharon and Ang, Glen Mia Saddlery (Cayce Hill, Bega Multicultural Centre)
Inclusion and Diversity - Disability Trust (Tarra Motors)
Junior Male - Jackson Parsons, Mal's Pizza Bite (Lochie Bruce)
Junior Female - Chelsea Manns, Coles (Bodhi Moffatt)
Senior Male - Tom Marshman, Big W (Alex Low)
Senior Female - Kerry Wheatley, Horizon Bank (Annette Haigh)
Bega Chamber of Commerce president John Watkin said the mystery judges struggled to pick winners in many of the categories with so many providing "exceptional customer service".
"It's testament to the great work that so many are doing," he said.
"It was great to have the whole business community come out and celebrate those businesses who stand out for their exceptional customer service.
"It's good for those businesses, as well as being motivation for others to aspire to the awards and try harder."
Among the categories were two new onecs since the previous awards in 2019 - Innovation, and Inclusion and Diversity.
"After the 2019 awards night we were approached by the Disability Trust asking if we'd consider a category for people with disability as they were keen to sponsor it, and we thought that was a great idea," Mr Watkin said.
"And it was one of the best parts of the night when they got up on stage and celebrated. It was really inspiring.
"Businesses like Tarra Motors as well, who offer meaningful employment to people with disability, is something worth celebrating."
Mr Watkin had many people he wished to thanks for making sure the night came together as well as it did.
Top of that list was the Bega Chamber of Commerce's events committee of Emma Keft, Kirsty Towill and Steven Millott - and in particular the work done by his daughter Amanda Watkin.
"Amanda coordinated it all from the table decorations to the name cards and menu boards.
"She worked with chef Kelly Eastwood and we employed 16 wait staff for the night.
"She put in 10 times more effort than what we paid her for!" he added with a chuckle.
"I'm really proud of her. The room looked spectacular."
Renowned chef Kelly Eastwood was also praised for providing wonderful food for the 370 guests, including trays of delectable canapes on arrival as well as main courses and desserts.
Guitarist Matt Preo provided pre-dinner entertainment and the Bega District Brass Band took dinner guests back to the 1940s with a selection of Big Band classics.
Then after the awards were handed out, Kitty Kat and the Band of Thieves kept the party going on the dance floor with their jazz and swing tunes.
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