Telegraph & Argus editor Perry Austin-Clarke introduces the 2014 Bradford Means Business Awards

It seems hard to believe that we are now embarking on the fourth of our annual Bradford Means Business Awards.

When we launched the awards in 2011, it is fair to say that the country was in the doldrums and struggling through the worst economic downturn for many years. That was, in part, why we decided to launch the awards – to celebrate and honour those businesses and individuals who were not only surviving, but fighting and thriving.

Now we are frequently told that we are emerging into better economic times. That is not to say that everything in the garden is rosy, and there are still companies who continue to struggle on in the face of adversity and a rapidly-changing world.

The Bradford Means Business Awards aim to give much-deserved recognition to those businesses, large and small, and those entrepreneurs, new or established, who have not only survived some of the worst trading conditions for decades, but forged ahead.

When we started these awards, we knew there were a lot of strong companies and ambitious business people in the Bradford district. But over the past years, the numbers and strength of entries in the Bradford Means Business Awards have delighted and surprised us. While we are all aware of the big hitters in Bradford’s business landscape, it was also incredibly gratifying to hear from firms who perhaps operate just under the radar of most lay-people’s knowledge.

And, of course, we want our readers to nominate the best retail and hospitality businesses which give them good service, and employees to put in a good word for their bosses.

We run the awards each year in partnership with Bradford Council which, alongside the T&A, recognises the massive contribution that business makes to our community. We couldn’t do it without their help or without the magnificent sup-port of the city’s leading business organisation, Bradford Chamber, and the backing of the ten other established and important businesses and organisations who sponsor our individual awards.

The T&A’s Bradford Means Business Awards are a magnificent example of the public and private sector working together for the good of the whole district. With the support of those who enter, may they long continue.

MAKE YOUR NOMINATIONS FOR THE BRADFORD MEANS BUSINESS AWARDS 2014