City of Whittlesea Business Awards 2023

Launching a new business is always daunting and this award is for business who have been operating since July 2021. Tell us how you started and how the business has grown into a sustainable business.

To demonstrate how your Start Up business has moved from an idea into, the business it is today the Judging Panel will assess your entry based on:

• The performance of your business since its launch, examples could include the number of customers.
• The growth of your business from the business plan stage to implementation to current day.

Love your customers? Tell us how your business has delivered customer service excellence in 2022. Customers are vital for any successful business, and we know you all have different ways of ensuring your customers keep coming back.

To demonstrate how you excel in customer service, the Judging Panel will assess your entry based on:

• How you engage with your customers.
• Systems and procedures to receive and record customer feedback and satisfaction, this could be through an external feedback provider or inhouse.
• Your customer service policy or charter.
• Your customer ratings through feedback, i.e. Trip Advisor, Trustpilot, Net Promoter Score and In house data collection tools.
• Customer testimonials.

Businesses have to keep evolving, has your business launched a new product or service, entered a new market or introduced new ways of working in 2022 that has made positive impacts to the overall performance of your business.

To demonstrate how your business has been leaders in Innovation and Enterprise, the Judging Panel will assess your entry based on:

• Examples of new products you have launched.
• Examples of new services you have introduced.
• How do these new products or services improve your business performance.
• How do these new products or services enhance the customer experience.
• How the business arrived at the design and implementation of the products or services.

How has your business made improvements to the way it operates in 2022 to ensure it can achieve a sustainable future?

To demonstrate how your business includes the impacts on the environment within the operation and how you focus on being sustainable, the Judging Panel will assess your entry based on:

• Your strategies and activities clearly showing how your business has developed and embraced becoming sustainable.
• How your business includes the circular economy within its operation.
• Examples of day-to-day methods that reduce the impact on the environment. 
• Future plans that include the inclusion of further sustainable policies. 
• Examples of how your business has implemented operational changes to include environmentally friendly practices.
• How any initiatives have created new roles within your business, connected directly or indirectly to sustainability and the circular economy.

Local communities are stronger with successful businesses, and we want to award a business that has made a positive impact in the local community in 2022. How does your business contribute to the local community initiatives?

To demonstrate how your business impacts the local community, the Judging Panel will assess your entry based on:

• The work your business has undertaken within the community and how that has benefited the City of Whittlesea. 
• Percentages of local City of Whittlesea residents within your workforce.
• Highlight how your business supports or works in partnership with other local businesses.

The City of Whittlesea is a diverse area with people from many backgrounds calling the municipality home, how does your business represent such a diverse area?

To demonstrate how your business impacts the local community, the Judging Panel will assess your entry based on:

• A breakdown of your workforce, gender, disability, nationality, education status sexual orientation and background.
• Initiatives that make your workplace attractive to people from the CALD community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Your workforce training programs, provide examples of activities you have carried out with training and placement providers to engage with different jobseeker cohorts.
• How you work with any local education providers to support your workforce through training and development.
• Your workplace diversity policy and how this is implemented in your day-to-day operation.

• A business must be a member of the City of Whittlesea Business Network to enter.
• A business can enter a maximum of two award categories, please use the same entry form to enter both categories should you choose this option.
• Each business must have a valid ABN.
• Complete all contact details on the entry form.
• Businesses must be registered and operate within the City of Whittlesea.
• Entry to the City of Whittlesea Business Awards is free.
• Once you submit your entry your entry cannot be edited, to make changes to a submitted entry a new entry will need to be submitted.
• Entries must be made by the business, entries made by third parties on behalf of businesses will not be accepted.
• Incomplete entries will not be accepted.
• Businesses must not be in breach of any state/territory or local government law or regulation.
• The business must hold all appropriate permits and licences; this includes but not limited to building, planning and health permits.
• Businesses that incur revenue relating to alcohol, tobacco and tobacco related products i.e. e-cigarettes, shisha, hookahs and pipes, gambling and electronic gaming machines are not eligible to enter.
• The finalists and winners will be selected by a judging panel; the panel's decision is final.
• Entries will be submitted through a MS Forms entry form.

Entries will open on Friday 24 February and close on Friday 24 March.

• Businesses need to be a member of the City of Whittlesea Business Network to enter the awards.
• A business can enter a maximum of two award categories.
• Each business needs a valid ABN.
• Businesses must be registered within the City of Whittlesea.
• The winners will be selected by a judging panel and the panel’s decision is final.