Five tables were added for the awards night on Friday, making it 506 tickets in total sold over the past five weeks.

Bathurst Business Chamber president Angus Edwards attributes the great interest in this year’s awards to guest speaker, finanical journalist Ross Greenwood, and the calibre of the local businesses. 

Mr Greenwood, who is the business and finance editor at the Nine Network, has more than 30 years of experience in finance.

The event is under the new management of the Bathurst Business Chamber this year, which has made several changes to the awards in the hopes of increasing fairness to all businesses involved.

The number of business awards judges has been increased to 19, and all bar one are from outside the Bathurst area.

Each category has been voted on by two judges, who have had no correspondence with each other.

Their scores for each business within a category will be added, and the business with the highest combined number of votes will be announced the winner. 

“I’d say this is one of the fairest and most rigorous years in regards to the judging process,” Mr Edwards said. 

In addition to the judging, the Bathurst Business Chamber this year has added new categories, devised an online system of voting, and re-designed the trophies. 

The dinner will feature a raffle and auction, with all the proceeds from the two going to three charities chosen following an exhaustive selection process. The charities are Riding for the Disabled Association – Bathurst, Glenray Industries, and Interchange Bathurst.

The business awards dinner will start at 6.30pm at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre.