Smart businesses supported by prestigious awards


A prestigious awards program will recognise the City of Sydney’s broad spectrum of small business success stories and provide a springboard to take their innovative ideas to new marketplaces.

Small to medium-sized businesses in and around Sydney have the opportunity to raise their profile, expand their networks and showcase their talents through an “excellence in small business” category of the NSW Business Chamber Business Awards sponsored by the City of Sydney.

Thousands of businesses have been applauded by the City since it first introduced its own business awards program more than a decade ago.  The City has now joined forces with the Chamber to showcase local businesses on a state-wide stage.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said nurturing a flourishing business sector was the key to ensuring Sydney’s status as Australia’s small business engine room.

“Small and medium-sized businesses are the lifeblood of our city,” the Lord Mayor said. “We have a huge range of innovative thinkers who are delivering exciting new products and services and spotting niche markets.

“For more than a decade, the City of Sydney has supported the efforts of our business owners and our business awards have always celebrated their success stories.

“We frequently stop and take stock of how we do things to ensure our programs provide the best possible support to different industry sectors.

“We are ourselves members of the NSW Business Chamber, so it’s exciting to join with them in this new award that will take our local businesses to a whole new level.”

The City has committed a $40,000 sponsorship of the 2014 NSW Business Chamber Business Awards for the Excellence in Small Business category that opens in April. It recognises companies with less than 20 employees who have attained significant growth and demonstrated the strategies and processes to achieve sustainable growth.

The City is working closely with the Chamber to potentially establish its own distinct region within the Chamber’s Business Awards in time for 2015.

For many years, the City has provided support to its 18,000 small to medium-sized businesses, which contribute more than $40 million to the economy every year.

The City’s support has helped the area’s strong business community weather the impacts of the global financial crisis, with the area’s workforce growing by 13.6 per cent – or extra 52,306 workers – since 2007, according to the latest Floor Space and Employment Survey.

Over the past five years, 40 per cent of all job growth across metropolitan Sydney has taken place in the City’s LGA, with the number of businesses growing by 2,065, or 10.5 per cent.

Businesses are also growing outside the city centre, with Pyrmont and Ultimo recording a 46 per cent jump in jobs, while the area around Glebe had a 38 per cent rise in employment and Chinatown and Haymarket rose by 23.4 per cent.

The City spends millions of dollars every year on sponsorship, grants, seminars, workshops and awards that provide a platform to boost markets and build loyal customer followings.

Winners of the NSW Business Chamber Business Awards regional awards in July, including the City of Sydney’s 2014 Excellence in Small Business Award, will automatically go through to the state finals in November.

Winner of the City’s 2011 Business of the Year award, Oobi Baby and Kids, started out as a retro-inspired boutique in Zetland and has since changed the face of children and baby’s fashion.

After taking out the award, the publicity and online profile helped it to become a global brand with stockists across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United States, Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.

“It was wonderful to gain the respect of the business industry and our peers,” said Alex Riggs, founder of Oobi Baby and Kids.

“Being recognised by the City of Sydney demonstrated how a young woman with an idea can turn a passion into a real business with real influence and a strong presence just 10 years later.

“I would encourage any small business keen to expand and boost their profile to get involved with the business awards. We took the leap and used it as an opportunity to highlight the many facets of our business – our charitable and sustainable practices, good business sense and strong goals – these have all been key to our success.”

For more information, visit: www.businessannualawards.com.au