Editorial: Awards full of hidden gems

Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards. Photo / Ben Fraser

What another great night at the Westpac Rotorua Business Excellence Awards.

This year had it all - from Todd McClay and Tamati Coffey squaring off in a "catch a bank note in your mouth" challenge (victory for Coffey this time) to a crowd participation version of Blurred Lines midway through the night to Opshop's Jason Kerrison leading a male versus female singalong to a Police classic.

Among all the entertainment was the serious business, the announcement of the award winners.

The winners were a mix of well-known recognisable names and others that until now have flown under the radar. None more so than the supreme winner, the family-run Evergreen Landcare.

Having never entered anything like this before, managing director Hamish Cunningham admitted it was a last-minute decision to put themselves forward. Bet he's glad he did.

For every Rotorua business that we hear about in the news there are dozens more that are quietly going about their work and doing interesting and exciting stuff. It's impossible for media to ferret out all these businesses, as much as we try.

So it was great for them, and all the other category finalists, to get their night in the spotlight on Friday.

There were numerous standing ovations. Tears were shed. More than 500 people in the room cheering each other on - competitors or not.

Darrin Walsh, Steve Pinder, Kathy Hawker and the rest of team at the Chamber of Commerce deserve a shout out for putting on a great event, as do the judges who gave up their time to provide valuable feedback to entrants.

I can't wait to see what other hidden business gems the awards will unearth next year.