Matt Dawson to star as guest speaker at the Cornwall Business Awards
Cornwall Development Company has announced that Matt Dawson MBE will be the celebrity speaker for the Cornwall Business Awards 2017, the most prestigious business awards event in the county.
The Cornwall Business Awards are organised and presented by Cornwall Development Company in association with Business Cornwall Magazine and the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce.
Matt Dawson is best known as a member of the England Rugby Union squad that won the 2003 World Cup. With 77 appearances for his country, he is England’s most capped scrum half. Matt Dawson is now a regular radio presenter on BBC 5 Live and a well-known TV personality in his role as Team Captain on the popular BBC show A Question of Sport. Matt Dawson also took part in (and won) the BBC’s Masterchef series and has since gone on to present a number of food programmes.
In September 2016, Matt Dawson launched a new meningitis awareness campaign to increase understanding of this rare but potentially fatal disease after his young son, Sami, had contracted the illness earlier in the year.
Colin Dennis, Chairman of Cornwall Development Company, says: “We are thrilled that Matt Dawson has agreed to be our guest speaker at this year’s awards. Not only is Matt an exceptional sporting hero, he has also gone on to achieve outstanding success off the field, with a brilliant career in broadcasting and a number of innovative business ventures. Matt has a reputation as a hugely entertaining and inspiring speaker, so he is the perfect choice for our awards night.”
Matt Dawson comments, “It’s a great honour to be invited to speak at such an important awards ceremony. There seems to be an amazing range of exciting and creative business ideas coming out of Cornwall right now, so I am really keen to find out more about the local business people who are driving all this success.
“I don’t get an opportunity to visit this beautiful part of the world as often as I would like, so being able to do that and to meet all the finalists from this year’s awards will be a real buzz for me.”
Any business based in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly can enter one or more of fourteen award categories, which include Best New Business, Best Family Business and Best International Business.
The spectacular awards dinner at St Mellion International on Thursday 18th May 2017 is one of the most important dates in the Cornwall business calendar. It is always a sell-out event, with over 300 key business leaders expected to attend this year.
Colin Dennis continues: “This is a great opportunity for successful local businesses to get wider recognition and publicity for their achievements, so I would urge as many as possible to enter.”
Entries for the Cornwall Business Awards 2017 should be made online and the closing date for entries is midnight on Sunday 12th March. A full list of the award categories and criteria, and an online entry form, are available now at www.cornwallbusinessawards.co.uk
