T This issues Business Hour was actually six hours that Helen Sanderson spent ‘wine-ing’, dining and dancing with the business elite from across Lancashire. The business community came to together on the 17th September, in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom dressed in their finest clothes to celebrate their resilience over the past 18-months. Photography: BIBAs/Clive Lawrence
he Be Inspired Business Awards is the longest running, largest and most prestigious business awards ceremony. Run by the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce the BIBAS is hailed as ‘the one award they all want to win’. North West supermarket chain Booths was named the Business of the Year in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 1,000 people who were entertained by The Shane Richie Band, fronted by the Eastenders’ actor who performed a lively selection of hit songs from the 80s. Babs Murphy, chief executive of the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce which organises the awards, said the event was “a perfect celebration” after a tough 18-months for the county’s business community during the Covid-19 pandemic. The last time it was held was in 2019.
