The event, held at the Queens Hotel in Leeds, saw an audience of 400 people honour the best that Yorkshire business has to offer.

The 10 categories covered every aspect of business in the region and saw companies ranging from new start-ups to big international players competing for the coveted awards.

Sean Mahon, who recently retired as the chief executive of finance group Cattles, was presented with the Award for Individual Excellence. Click the Play button to watch the highlights on video.

Sheffield-born Mr Mahon was rewarded for making a major contribution to the region through his history of success in business.

Awards were presented by guest of honour Shadow Foreign Secretary and MP for Richmond, William Hague. The event was presented Declan Curry, the business reporter on BBC Breakfast.

The major sponsors of the wards were Yorkshire Bank, Yorkshire Forward, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and DLA Piper.

Associate sponsors were Yorkshire Science, Meadowhall, White Rose University Consortium, Bradford University School of Management and Cummins Turbo Technologies of Huddersfield.

The Hewlett Construction Group generously provided the champagne reception.

The judges of the awards were David Spicer and colleagues at Bradford University School of Management; Wendy Harrison of DLA Piper; Trevor Gregory of Yorkshire Science; Darren Bryant and Steve Crow of PricewaterhouseCoopers; Alex McWhirter of Yorkshire Forward; Patrick Walton of Yorkshire Bank and the Yorkshire Post's Business Editor David Parkin.

Peter Charlton, Editor of the Yorkshire Post, said: "With entries up by more than 50 per cent, I know how difficult the judges found it to decide on the eventual winners.

"Yorkshire is a vibrant place to live and to work. It's become so through inspiration, imagination and the sheer brilliance of the diverse collection of businesses and individual entrepreneurs.

"Yorkshire's economy - which makes it a global powerhouse - is in excellent health. And Yorkshire, whether based around our strong and enduring traditional industries or new technological developments, is enjoying a renaissance as a consequence.

"The Excellence in Business Awards are about celebration, about saluting the best of business trading both at home and abroad."



The winners of the awards were:

Innovation of the Year Award, sponsored by Yorkshire Science – Loadhog from Gripple Group, Sheffield;

Project of the Year Award, sponsored by Meadowhall Shopping Centre – Zulfi Karim, for helping to bring the IIFA Bollywood Awards to Yorkshire;

Best University Spin-out, sponsored by White Rose University Consortium – Xceleron of York;

Best Company to Work For, sponsored by Bradford University School of Management – Welcom Software, Harrogate;

Young Business of the Year Award, sponsored by Yorkshire Forward – Space2work, Wakefield;

Exporter of the Year category, sponsored by Cummins Turbo Technologies – Allam Marine, Hull;

Companies with turnover of under £10m, sponsored by Yorkshire Bank – Elmwood, Guiseley;

Companies with turnover of between £10m and £50m, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers – Pressure Technologies, Sheffield;

Companies with turnover of more than £50m, sponsored by law firm DLA Piper - MKM Building Supplies, Hull;

Individual Award for Yorkshire Excellence, sponsored by the Yorkshire Post – Sean Mahon of Cattles.

Photographs by Gary Longbottom. All images are available to purchase through photo sales>>

View the winners' profiles>>