I was very pleased to attend the annual Lake Macquarie Business Excellence Awards Gala Dinner on the 12th of July.

These awards recognise and celebrate the depth and diversity of the local business enterprises in the City of Lake Macquarie.

The quality of this years nominees was again outstanding. In a packed room, with their supporters, were the almost 50 finalists across 14 categories.

Again this year, a significant number of the winners came from my electorate of Charlestown.

Congratulations to:

Outstanding Young Employee of the Year - Jess Kiely from A Growing Understanding Speech Pathology.

Design Anthology, Gateshead for Excellence in Small Business;

R&R Murphy, Gateshead Excellence in Export; and

Allambi Care, Charlestown for winning both Excellence in Social Enterprise and especially for having their Contribution to the City recognised.

I would also like to congratulate Simon Ashley for winning the Outstanding Business Leader for his ATUNE Health Centres.

Well done to everyone!