Judges have shortlisted 50 businesses as finalists for the ANZ Business of the Year Awards, from a total of 116 entries this year.

The number of entries is showing consistent growth since the Ashburton District awards were first held in 2022.

Council is partnering with Ri Ra Events to host the awards and Ri Ra marketing director Colm McGrath said the final count had exceeded both expectations.

“It’s great seeing different businesses putting themselves forward each awards along with others coming back to have a go at a new award category.

“The quality of the applicants we interviewed was very high.”

There were four core judges on the panel who assessed the entries: former Mayor Neil Brown, Jason McCrae from Business Canterbury, Chantelle Quinn of the Braided Rivers Community Trust, and Willie Murney of Murney Trust.

Subject matter experts provided information about specific categories to support the judges' decision-making.

The judges said there was a consistency across all applications - passion for what they do, who they serve, and the wider Mid Canterbury community.

They also said the entries impressed them with in-depth business knowledge and insights.

Winners will be announced at a gala evening at the Ashburton Aviation Museum superhangar on 20 February 2026 - the aviation museum was a winner in the inaugural awards in 2022, taking top spot in the tourism category.

The gala evening is open to all businesses to attend, and tables and tickets for the evening have been released for sale at www.businessoftheyear.nz

Category winners are eligible for the supreme business excellence award, which will be decided by Mayor Liz McMillan.

A full list of finalists is available on the ANZ Business of the Year Awards website.

Event partners for 2026 are ANZ, ANZCO Foods, Abbott Insurance Brokers, Canstaff, Catalyst Performance Agronomy, Crest Clean, Croys, Experience Mid Canterbury, Fox Peak Dairy, Mt Hutt, Naylor Love, New Zealand Bed Company, Spark, Talley's, Tavendale + Partners.