From thousands of entrants from across the nation, nine cafés and 10 restaurants have made the finalists lists of the 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards, a program that celebrates the growing number of Australia’s inspiring and influential women in small business.
“Among this year’s most competitive categories, the café and restaurant categories are proving among the most challenging to judge,” says Steve Loe, Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, which coordinates the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.
“When the Champion Judges evaluate entries, they consider all aspects of a small business: its strategies, innovative initiatives, customer service, vision, growth, charitable and community support, to name but some of the criteria.”
The nine café category finalists are Annie Lane in Queensland, Darcy & Café in Tasmania, Lo’s Cafe and Dining in Western Australia, and Port Hacking Café, Goodie Goodie Gum Drops Café and Confectionary, Culture Grounds Espresso, Rise N Shine Espresso Bar, The Burrow Cherrybrook, and The Local Pantry in New South Wales.
The 10 restaurant category finalists are The Coffee Patch on Hasking in Queensland, and Enzos Cucina Dural, Hurricane’s Grill, Miss Arda, One Penny Red, Public Dining Room, Taj of the Valley, The Colonial British-Indian Cuisine, The East Village Hotel, and The Union in New South Wales.
Winners of the 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards will be announced on 23 September at National Presentation Evening Gala Event.
The red-carpet event will be hosted by journalist and broadcaster Deborah Knight at the newly built Western Sydney Conference Centre at Penrith in New South Wales.
In addition to honouring business category winners, the 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards also showcases the achievements of four individual category winners: Young Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur (aged 30 and younger), Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur (aged over 30), Australian Small Business Champion Influential Woman and Australian Small Business Champion Icon.
“We’re simply blown-away by the incredibly high calibre of Australia’s female-led small businesses in the marketing services sector and, while it’s certainly a welcome challenge, the next round of judging is bound to be even more challenging, as we continue to nut-through the impressive finalists to reach one category winner,” says Steve.
Free-of-charge, entries closed on 21 July. The 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards is sponsored by Nine Plus, CUB, NOVA Employment, Castaway Forecasting, Xcllusive Business Sales and Big Clean.
The national annual awards program was created to shine a spotlight on the rising economic and social contributions of women in small business, spanning all capital cities as well as rural, regional and suburban towns.
Now in its second consecutive year, the 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards features more than 65 categories, judged by an independent panel of representatives who have relevant experience or an understanding of the operations of small business.
To view the full list of the 2023 finalists, visit: womensbusinesschampions.com.au
