Eight outstanding businesses were awarded for their use of digital technology and innovation at the first Lincolnshire Digital Awards.
The inaugural awards ceremony was hosted by Lincolnshire Business magazine at the DoubleTree by Hilton on March 10.
Tech guru and TV personality Jason Bradbury made a memorable appearance, beaming himself into a robot on stage to welcome everyone to the event, before gliding to the front of the room on a Hovertrax hands free hover board.
He then announced the winners and congratulated them on their awards.
BBC Radio Lincolnshire presenter Melvyn Prior hosted the evening, announcing that there had been over 60 entries for the eight categories.
Councillor Colin Davie, Executive Member for Economic Development, closed the ceremony with a speech encouraging delegates to continue to represent the county and innovate.
The unique awards presented on the night were created by the Lincolnshire Technology Hub at the University of Lincoln.
They were made using a mixture of 3D printing, CNC milling, laser etching and traditional woodwork – bringing together the past, present and future of technology.
Dean Graham, Associate Publisher of Lincolnshire Business, organisers of the event, said: “When we formed the idea of a digital awards for Lincolnshire we didn’t know how well it would be embraced; there’s always an inherent risk that you can create something that no-one is really interested in attending.
“Luckily our expectations were surpassed, not just with the amount of nominations that were received, but the support from the creative industry in Lincolnshire has been fantastic to see.
“Lincolnshire Business magazine was designed to celebrate, promote and connect businesses within the region, and I think our first event has achieved exactly that.”
Tom Whittaker, Managing Director of Trade Clients and winners of Best Digital Startup award, said: “The scaleability of what we do, combined with the future potential, gives us a leap above the other competition but they all did very well; they all have very good businesses and, as a start up, we now have to put our money where our mouth is.
“Version two is about to be submitted to the app store, once that goes in it is about scale, boosting the numbers and getting our customer acquisitions is where we want them to be.”
Daniel Westlake, Managing Director of Artsgraphica, and winner of the Digital Business of the year, said: “There is so much good talent locally; we’re delighted to be honoured with this award. There is a real buzz around the digital sector at the moment and it’s great to be a part of that.
“Artsgraphica is a bit unusual in that we don’t offer online marketing services. Instead, we see the web as a place that helps business to work better, not just to sell more.
“I think events like the Lincolnshire Digital Awards are crucial in recognising and developing local talent.”
The Lincolnshire Digital Awards 2015 winners were:
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