INSURANCE calls handling specialist Call Connection took top honours last night at the 2007 Anglian Business Awards.

INSURANCE calls handling specialist Call Connection took top honours last night at the 2007 Anglian Business Awards.

The Ipswich-based company was named Business of the Year, being chosen for the top award of the night from among a total of 14 category winners announced earlier in the ceremony

Call Connection won the Community Involvement category and also narrowly missed out on another award, being named among the runners-up for Training & Development.

There was also individual recognition for Call Connection's founder and manager director, Graeme Kalbraier, who was named Entrepreneur of the Year for his track record of business growth and job creation.

The Anglian Business Awards, being staged by the East Anglian Daily Times for the tenth time, were supported for the fourth year running by Bank of Scotland Corporate as main sponsor, including the overall Business of the Year title.

Bruce Robertson, director, commercial business at Bank of Scotland Corporate in Ipswich, said: “Call Connection stood out as our winner being a great example of entrepreneurial flair which has created a sustainable, profitable business employing a large number of people in our region.

“The business has actively sought to develop its people and in turn is tangibly supporting our local community.”

Last night's ceremony was held at the Trinity Park Conference & Events Centre, venue sponsor for the awards for the second year running, with the evening being compered by comedian Dominic Holland.

Runner-up for the Business of the Year title was Access Accounting, based at Stratford St Mary, which also won the Innovation & Technology category, with Hadleigh-based Challs International (the company behind the Buster range of household cleaning products) coming third overall, having won both the Marketing and Business Development categories

Terry Hunt, editor of the East Anglian Daily Times, said the EADT was delighted to be helping the local business community tocelebrate its success, particularly after such a challenging year which had seen Suffolk so frequently in the national headlines for the wrong reasons, including the killing of five young women in and around Ipswich and the outbreaks of bird flu and bluetongue disease.

“It says a great deal for the resilience, enterprise, expertise and innovation of businesses in this part of the world that the local economy remains relatively robust, and the East Anglian Daily Times is delighted to have been able to tell many stories of success alongside those of difficulty and hardship,” he added.

n For full picture coverage of last night's Anglian Business Awards ceremony, see next Tuesday's BusinessEast supplement in the EADT

Anglian Business Awards 2007 - The Roll of Honour

Business of the Year (sponsored by Bank of Scotland Corporate)

Winner: Call Connection

Second: Access Accounting

Third: Challs International

Start-up Business of the Year (sponsored by Gotelee & Goldsmith)

Winner: The Chilli Company

Runners-up: MyRuby; Time Appointments

Innovation & Technology (sponsored by University Campus Suffolk)

Winner: Access Accounting

Runners-up: Blyth Valley; Kirton Healthcare

Outstanding Customer Service (sponsored by 'one')

Winner: The West Wing, Ickworth

Runners-up: The Hearing Care Centre; KeConnect

Young Business Person (sponsored by Picasso HR)

Winner: Neil Prentice, White Space Design

Runners-up: Craig Dade, Time Appointments; Joanne Sparkes, Girl Next Door

Training & Development (sponsored by Anglia Recruitment Group)

Winner: Monthind Clean

Runners-up: Call Connection; Jonathan Waters

Small Business of the Year (sponsored by Suffolk Chamber of Commerce)

Winner: Project PR

Runners-up: CML Cleaning; Fire Risk Assessment Consultancy UK

International Trade (sponsored by Haven Gateway)

Winner: MCP plc

Runners-up: Muntons plc; St Peter's Brewery

Rural Business (sponsored by the East Anglian Daily Times)

Winner: Bunting & Sons

Runners-up: G R Green; La Hogue Farm Shop & Delicatessen

Marketing (sponsored by Alliance Corporate Risk Management)

Winner: Challs International

Runners-up: Ardex UK, Jonathan Waters

Business Development (sponsored by Douglas Duff)

Winner: Challs International

Runners-up: Select Recruitment/Key Personnel; White Space Design

Entrepreneur of the Year (sponsored by Ipswich Audi)

Winner: Graeme Kalbraier, Call Connection

Runners-up: Chris Lewis, CML Cleaning; Jackie Stoneman, Select Recruitment/Key Personnel

Environment (sponsored by EDF Energy)

Winner: Otley College

Runners-up: Clacton Shopping Village; G R Green

Medium-Large Business of the Year (sponsored by Baker Tilly)

Winner: Warners M&E

Runners-up: Hutton Construction, Muntons plc

Community Involvement (sponsored by Adnams)

Winner: Call Connection

Runners-up: The Hearing Care Centre; 'one'