The Businessperson of the Year and Business of the Year awards were among nine accolades handed out last night. The winners and runners-up in the other categories were:

The O2 Small Business of the Year award was won by St Helens based Elite Telecom. The judges were impressed by the rapid growth exhibited by Elite in recent years.

The runners-up were Liverpool city centre-based public relations agency Paver Smith and Liverpool Science Park based software and web design group Mando.

The Business Link North West Medium Business of the Year award was claimed by another of Liverpools long established firms. Chemicals group RS Clare can trace it lineage to the 18th Century. The judges were impressed by how RS Clare has transformed its fortunes in recent years into a fast-growing and increasingly profitable business that is also investing s500k a year in research and development.

The runners-up in the category were Wirral and Liverpool-based taxi firm Davy Liver Group and social housing boiler firm Warmer Heating.

The University of Liverpool Corporate Social Responsibility award was won by Eli Lilly. The judges were impressed by the way the group communicates with the neighbourhoods immediately around its Speke factory. The runners-up were life assurance mutual Royal Liver Group and law firm Weightmans.

The Liverpool Vision Investment of the Year award was given to T-Systems, the billing and direct mail arm of Deutsche Telekom, which last year created 40 jobs in Bromborough, staff that were taken after the closure of a similar print operation owned by another company. The runners-up were Runcorn based Thermo Fisher and Danish shipping line Maersk.

UK Trade & Investment Exporter of the Year award was won by Tall Security Print which exports specialist documentation, including cheques, to numerous countries overseas. The runners- up were RS Clare and Regal Wholesale.

The Liverpool John Moores University Knowledge Business of the Year award was made to Aimes Grid Services, which provides high volume advanced internet services to the business market. The runners-up were Aspire Trust and Ventcroft.

Royal Mail Green award was won by Roy Hankinson Group, a painting and decorating firm that has found a way of recycling 50,000 used paint tins a year. The runners up were King Construction and furniture recycling firm Bulky Bobs.