On behalf of the board of directors of the Chamber and Salisbury BID, may I thank all of you who took part in our celebration of business and the return of the Business Excellence Awards 2022 last Friday at the Bibury Suite, Salisbury Racecourse. It has been a long time since we have held such a prestigious event and I am sure those of you who attended will agree how wonderful it was to be able to dress up, meet up and enjoy a special night out without restrictions.

It was particularly nice to see many new businesses and business owners present. I would like to thank all the businesses, both Chamber and BID who took part in the awards and I can verify the judges’ comments, that the quality of all businesses made the judging extremely difficult. You were all within points of each other and we hope the experience and recognition further boosts your businesses in the coming years.

I must also thank the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Mrs Sarah Rose Troughton, John Glen MP, The Worshipful Mayors of Salisbury and Wilton, Cllr Caroline Corbin and Cllr Phil Matthews, The President of Wilton Rotary Club, Cllr Peter Edge and not forgetting Past King Rat 2018 Mr Adger Brown for their unstinting support to the Chamber and BID.

The evenings Raffle, Auction and Heads and Tails, raised an amazing £9000 so far. Thanks go to all those who donated prizes. When we planned the event, our support for our members and for charities that have suffered in recent years was uppermost on our minds and therefore we decided that any who attend the night will equally share the amount raised from the fundraising.

There were ten charities in attendance however Wessex Archaeology, Wiltshire Creative and St Thomas’ Church all agreed to forego their share to the others. The total we raise will therefore go to the following 7 charities:-

Alabare
Wilton Rotary Club
Julia’s House Children’s Hospice
The Burnbake Trust
Salisbury Hospice Care Trust
Arundells
Salisbury Museum

Our next event is our AGM on 18th May with an evening event and dinner; we hope to make presentations to the charities on this evening.

The evening also gave an opportunity to honour Bill Browne with a Life Time Achievement Award which he was very humbled to receive and was able to turn the tables on Andy Rhind-Tutt to thank him for 8 years service as President of the Salisbury Chamber which will draw to a close at this years AGM.

Finally, Ash Mills, has taken over 300 excellent photographs of the evening which we will share with all guests.