Carrickfergus Chamber of Commerce and Trade is celebrating after staging a highly successful Business Excellence Awards event in The Clarion Hotel on Friday, June 4 - hosted by UTV's Julian Simmons.

The chamber received a record number of entries for the 2010 Business Excellence Awards from a diverse range of companies and retailers from right across the borough.

More than 250 guests packed the function room of the Clarion Hotel to find out which companies had picked up an award.

Carrickfergus Chamber of Commerce and Trade President Michael McCune said: "These awards were a great opportunity for businesses in the borough to demonstrate their innovation, energy and achievements and the chamber is honoured to be able to highlight the great work of our local business community.

"Winning an award, or even getting through to the final, is a great achievement for any local business and our independent panel of judges were really impressed with the standard of excellence of the entries we received.

"We hope to build on the success of this year's event and plan even bigger and better things for next year. These awards were not just about recognising the high standards that already exist in the Carrickfergus business community but to also to help raise those standards further which will in turn increase and develop our customer base locally and encourage people from further afield to come to the town and also increase outside investment.

"We are very grateful to all our sponsors for their generous support without which such an amazing event would not have been possible.

"These awards were a great way to highlight the sterling work of the local chamber of commerce and we hope that it will encourage even more business owners to join our ranks and enjoy the positive benefits such an association can bring."

There were 14 categories in the Carrickfergus Chamber of Commerce and Trade Business Excellence Awards 2010 and the sponsors and winners are as follows:

Best Business Premises: sponsored by Carrickfergus Borough Council
Winner: The Marina Restaurant

Best Cafe/coffee house: sponsored by Abbey Insurance
Winner: Zoo Park Cafe

Best Customer Service: sponsored by Tesco
Winner: Take Thyme (at the Courtyard)

Environmental Award: sponsored by AES Kilroot Power Limited
Winner: Tesco Stores Ltd

Best E-Trader: sponsored by The Clarion Hotel
Winner: Robinsons Shoemakers

Best Independent Retailer: sponsored by Douglas and Grahame
Highly Commended: Robinsons 2
Winner: Gap Wine

Innovation and Creativity: sponsored by Invest NI
Winner: ProNet Safety Services

Marketing and PR: sponsored by McCue Interior Fitout Solutions
Highly Commended: East Antrim Motor Factors
Winner: Robinsons Shoemakers

Best Multiple Retailer: sponsored by The Clarion Hotel
Winner: Boots the Chemist

Best New Business: sponsored by Carrickfergus Borough Council
Winner: Grow

Best Pub: sponsored by James Macaulay
Winner: Joymount Arms

Best Restaurant: sponsored by McCue Interior Fitout Solutions
Winner: Papa Browns

Best Salon: sponsored by Abbey Insurance
Winner: Beauty Care 2000

Commitment to Carrickfergus Award: Awarded by the Carrickfergus Chamber of Commerce and Trade
Winner: James Macaulay

Click on the images below to see larger versions.