Parrock Street Dental and Implant Centre in Gravesend won a business award last year

by business editor Trevor Sturgess

It's time to salute our business heroes with this year's launch of two well-established award schemes.

The 29th annual Medway Business Awards (MBA), one of the county's oldest award schemes, will be unveiled at a launch event in the Innovation Centre Medway today, with further details in the Medway Messenger newspaper on Friday.

Awards founder David Jones, a retired journalist who worked for the KM Group, an award sponsor, will be speaking about the history of the awards created in the wake of the devastating closure of Chatham Naval Dockyard in 1984.

The MBA are sponsored by Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), e.on, Furley Page, Lloyds TSB Commercial, KM Group, Medway council, Reeves, University for the Creative Arts and the University of Greenwich.

Sylvia Meade, chairman of the awards organising committee, said: "Medway businesses have held up very well through recent global trading difficulties and full credit should be given for the number of apprentices these firms have taken on. These awards were born out of difficult times and the Medway business community has shown great resilience."

Details about the ninth annual Dartford and Gravesham Business Awards (DGBA) will be published in the Gravesend and Dartford Messenger newspapers tomorrow.

Both contests are open to businesses of any size, but entrants must be based in the respective council areas and pay rates to that council. The deadline for entries for each is July 31.

The DGBA are sponsored by Barnes Roffe, Dartford Borough Council, Gravesham Borough Council, the KM Group, Lloyds TSB Commercial, North West Kent College, Perducta, Thomson Snell and Passmore, University of Greenwich.

Matt Kear, commercial manager at Lloyds TSB and chairman of the judges, said: "The standard of entries for these local awards has always been of an exceptional quality and I would expect 2013 to be no different. The awards grow in stature every year. In challenging financial times, winners say that making the finals has assisted in securing new works, a fantastic reason to enter this year."

Last year's DGBA business of the year was Parrock Street Dental and Implant Centre, Gravesend. DMA Maintenance of Gillingham was Medway business of the year.