The Croydon Business Awards have certainly developed a reputation as a night of celebration, and the 2013 event was no exception.

The awards are a prestigius event that provide an excellent opportunity for local businesses to showcase their talent, and the businesses shortlisted this year were all very strong contenders.

thebestof Croydon were delighted that three of our very own members had been shortlisted this year - JAM Hair in the category "FSB Real Life Entrepreneur 2013", the Jurys Inn for "Best Green Business" and Catherine Johnstone Recruitment for the "Best Customer Service" award.

And didn't they all do well!

JAM Hair, who were in a very hotly contended category with incredibly strong competition were delighted to be commended in their category.

Jacqui, salon owner of JAM Hair said "I was delighted to be commended and I also had a fabulous evening, meeting lots of the finalists and sponsors, well done to everyone involved! Croydon needs to be recognised for the right reasons."

And Jurys Inn also received recognition for their green achievements by being highly commended.

Catherine Johnstone Recruitment were the winners on the night, winning their category, and they were thrilled to bits!

As category sponsor for the award, Jeremy Ramsden from Sutton Utd FC said: “We know the value of customer service, which is a major skills-gap in the vast majority of modern day businesses. With the electronic world we now live and operate in, very few people truly understand what customer service means and its profound value in business and our society alike. Clearly, Catherine Johnstone Recruitment have been independently recognised for being innovative, passionate and forward thinking when it comes to customer service. I, for one, respect this enormously and, thus, I’m extremely proud to be associated with such a vitally important award.”

Asked about their success, a delighted Jeremy Booth from CJR said afterwards, “To say that we are thrilled to win this award is an understatement! As one of 8 finalists in our category we knew that the competition was going to be extremely tough with some great businesses in the mix. To come out on top is not only a wonderful feeling but also a fabulous endorsement of our company ethos, our dedication to providing a personal service to everyone we come into contact with and an endorsement also of the continued hard work of all of the fantastic members of staff who make up Team CJR."

"Our motto of “people before profit” has stood us in good stead for many years – work with integrity, treat people well, give them the best service you possibly can and the rest will follow. We would like to thank the judges, sponsors and organisers of the event as well as all of our clients, candidates, suppliers and staff for their continued support. To win this award is a real coup for us and I’m sure it will give us all a huge boost in our plans to drive the business further forwards this year and beyond.”

Well done to all three of you from thebestof for your very deserved success.