UAINE Candles lit up the 28th Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards, taking home the top gong on Friday night.
In front of a sold-out crowd at the Cessnock Leagues Club, including Hunter MP Dan Repacholi and Maitland state MP Jenny Aitchison, the much-loved Morpeth venture owned by Andrew Mason and his partner Suzanne picked up two major accolades.
After claiming the General Business honours, the pair collected the prestigious Business of the Year title from worthy finalists Picture This Custom Framing and McCaffrey’s Estate.
“I’m stunned,” Mr Mason said.
“We won the General Business award last year.
“And, we thought we’d be lucky to do it again in 2023.
“But, we did it.
“Then, to top it off, the idea of actually going one step further than we did last year is absolutely amazing.
“We’re just delighted… and very thankful for the support we get.”
Mr Mason admitted it was difficult to explain UAINE Candles’ “secret to success”.
“It’s hard to put my finger on it,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.
“However, we really do place our customers first.
“We have a passion and part of that is we want to do things differently.
“Our belief is we don’t believe we should sell to people.
“We want to have fun with them, we want to entertain them and we want to educate them.
“Then, if at the end of all that they want to buy our candles, that’s fantastic.”
Mr Mason was quick to praise his significant other, too.
“Suzanne is my rock, both personally and in business,” he said.
“But, we wouldn’t be here without the team of people we have who’ve adopted the passion, professionalism and knowledge that we’ve brought into this industry.
“A big thanks go to The Hub (Hunter Region Business Hub), the judges and the sponsors.”
Business Leader of the Year went to Scott Player (Hunter Health Insurance) while Michael Maffey (Maffey Property Services) was highly-commended.
Brodie White, of Balanced Beans, was named Businesswoman of the Year.
Muswellbrook’s Amy Foster and Maitland-based Mai-Wel were also big winners at the function.
Ms Foster’s Expressions School of Dance was highly-commended in the Health Services category and she backed up to take out Young Entrepreneur of the Year ahead of Jahluvi Anashe Mtanda (Jah Arts and Designs).
Mai-Wel prevailed in the Digital Business and Not-for-profit Business sections.
Hunter Region Business Hub general manager Kerry Hallett was thrilled with the event.
“The number of great businesses out there is truly amazing,” she said.
“While it’s been hard for many of them over the past couple of years, it’s good to see everyone here tonight.
“They should all be proud of their respective efforts.
“We received about 110 nominations, which turned into more than 70 finalists.
“It was certainly a tough job for the judges, who were impressed with the quality on offer.
“I’d also like to congratulate my team for putting all of this together.”
28th Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards winners
Digital Business: Mai-Wel
- Financial & Real Estate Services: Merchant Business Brokers; highly-commended, LJ Hooker Cessnock
- General Business: UAINE Candles; highly-commended, Koutchi
- Health Services: Australian Hypnotherapy College; highly-commended, Expressions School of Dance
- Home-based Business: Picture This Custom Framing
- Personal Services: Advanced School of Beauty Therapy
- Trades & Industry: Hunter Valley Flooring Xtra
- Hospitality & Tourism: McCaffrey’s Estate; highly-commended, Vines Restaurant Hollydene Estate Wines
- Internet-based Business: Jezweb
- Not-for-profit Businesses: Mai-Wel; highly-commended, Maitland Liquor Accord
- Professional Services: Green Ink Design Studio; highly-commended, Balanced Beans
- New Start Business: Heart HR
- Customer Service (Individual): Bryan Hampton (Vintage Connection Tours)
- Customer Service (Business): Beam Bookkeeping
- Young Entrepreneur: Amy Foster (Expressions School of Dance); highly-commended, Jahluvi Anashe Mtanda (Jah Arts and Designs)
- Businesswoman of the Year: Brodie White (Balanced Beans)
- Business Leader of the Year: Scott Player (Hunter Health Insurance); Michael Maffey (Maffey Property Services)
- Business of the Year: UAINE Candles
- The Newcastle Weekly is the media partner of the Hunter Region Business Excellence Awards
For more business stories:
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.