THE brightest business sparks from in and around Cirencester were honoured on Friday night at the town’s annual Chamber of Commerce Awards.

More than 200 people packed into the Corn Hall in Market Place, with organisers delighted to welcome back BBC Gloucestershire’s Vernon Harwood to host the evening for the seventh year running.

What’s more, Iwan Lewis, artistic director of Cirencester’s Barn Theatre – due to open as a professional venue later this year – featured as a guest speaker before scooping the Creative’s Champions Award.

One of the big winners on the night was Cirencester Sales & Lettings which picked up two awards – Business Person of the Year and the Customer Service Award.

Corinium Museum also landed two with Team of the Year and the Cirencester Community Award, while the team behind the Abbey 900 festival took home the much-coveted Chamber of Commerce Award.

Other winners included Bluestone Insurance (New Business), Jesse Smith’s (Retailer), Wildwood Ecology (Professional Services), Ingleside House (Hospitality & Entertainment), Corinium Continuous (Skilled Trader), Eternity Engraving (Enterprise) and Jonathan Rooke of Straight PR (Cirencester Ambassador).

Jan Sparrow, chamber of commerce president and editor of Cirencester Scene magazine, got the proceedings going, while the esteemed guests on the night included former Cirencester Mayor Mark Harris.

Claire Wardell, chamber secretary, took to Twitter following the event to thank photographer Kay Ransom for her coverage of the ceremony.

For the full photo gallery, courtesy of Kay Ransom Photography, go to: 

FULL GALLERY: Cirencester Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2017 ​