Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, 22 October 2022
‘Love the Centre’ Hamilton CBD awards (Photo Supplied)
Over the last two years, businesses across the country have shown resilience and faced many challenges to give service to their customers.
Hamilton businesses were no exception to the hardships that were mirrored by businesses in other regions. It is hence, a refreshing change to talk about the achievements of these businesses and celebrate not just their acumen but also their strength to forge ahead at all times.
Last week, the city witnessed a fantastic evening packed with celebration and recognition of Hamilton’s city businesses and what they have achieved.
Hamilton Central Business Association and Mediaworks curated this elaborate awards evening for Businesses across various genres in the City centre.
Guests are welcomed at ferry bank Park with music from the Trenwith Brothers
The highlights of the Evening
Love The Centre CBD Awards 2022 kicked off at the Ferrybank Park band rotunda with live jazz by the Trenwith brothers, with Tim Trenwith playing the Cello and Saxist Sam Trenwith as the saxist. Good George cocktails and canapes from River Kitchen before heading across the road to ‘The Meteor’ for the awards ceremony where guests arrived at a beautifully dressed venue created by Royal Lab and a delicious banquet of food provided by SkyCity Hamilton.
Master of Ceremonies for the event was Kelvyn Eglinton from Momentum Waikato while the entertainment mid-ceremony by saxophone player Lewis McCallum was a real highlight and had the guests dancing in the aisles. Spark was the proud sponsor of the evening.
“It was a night of celebration and appreciation of these businesses and what they’re offering in the CBD,” said Vanessa Williams, General Manager of the Hamilton Central Business Association. The broad range of businesses celebrated at the awards, Vanessa says, showcases the diversity of offering in the central city.
Vanessa Williams (HCBA General Manager), Kelvyn Eglinton (MC), Vicky Redwood (HCBA Marketing Manager)
Recognition across a broad spectrum
From a tyre shop to the more traditional food and retail offerings, professional services to experiences, health & beauty places and those working in the public good space, the nominees and winners were a great mix of variety, the scale of operation and concepts.
Talking to Indian Newslink, Ms Williams said “The Hamilton CBD Awards have continued to evolve to suit the priorities occurring in the market at the time and this year was no different.”
Dinner and formal awards at The Meteor (Photo supplied)
After the success of the inner-city campaign called Love the Centre which encouraged the public to reconnect with the city centre and to show the business community some love using the tagline ‘There is always something to do, see, eat, drink and love when you visit Hamilton’s city centre.’
It made sense for the organising team to carry this brand across the CBD Awards and invite the general public to participate by nominating businesses they love. This proved to be a hit with both the public and business community with over 100 entrants across the nine categories.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Hamilton.
