The final judging day for this year’s entries in Isle of Man Newspapers’ Awards for Excellence took place on Thursday.

A bumper entry meant that in most categories there will be four finalists instead of the usual three.

Especially popular were some of the new categories introduced this year.

It also made the job of the 16 judges who make up the panel even more difficult.

All of the judges are well known and respected in their field, whether it be finance, retail, egaming or the public sector.

As soon as the entries closed last month, they were split into pairs with each pair judging two award categories.

On the final judging day they presented their chosen winners and finalists to the other judges to endorse.

But, if you thought this would be a rubber-stamping exercise you would be quite wrong.

The order of winners and finalists in each category was thoroughly analysed, discussed and, in some cases, hotly debated in just the rigorous way that an award for ’excellence’ in any field demands.

And, as usual, the entries threw up a few surprises with some very successful enterprises that even the well-informed judges had never come across.

Another feature of judging is the sheer quality of the entries.

It is, as Isle of Man Newspapers’ deputy chairman Trudi Williamson, said: ’A celebration of everything that makes our island such a special place.’

With the final judging completed, letters are now going out to all the finalists though no one will know whether or not they have won until the Awards Night next month.

In the meantime the excitement will build as all the finalists will be asked to come to Isle of Man Newspapers offices to be filmed for a special sequence to be shown on the night, when they will also all come out on stage to be cheered by the audience during the opening of the show.

This year’s Awards Night will be on November 14 at the Villa Marina.

It will be compered by Countryfile star, Julia Bradbury. This will not be the presenter’s first visit to the island.

She was here before filming for the series ’Britain’s Best Walks’ when she started with the Dhoon Glen river walk to the west coast, then walked down the Laxey Valley to explore its mining heritage and climb the world’s largest working waterwheel, before going to the top of Snaefell.

The full list of judges is as follows:

â?¢ Roger Raatgever, Apricot Investments

â?¢ Andy Bass, Conister Bank Ltd

â?¢ Jackie Betteridge, Crossroads Care

â?¢ Richard Lole, Department of Environment, Food & Agriculture

â?¢ Lydia Barbara, Department for Enterprise

â?¢ Angela Byrne, Department for Enterprise

â?¢ Andrew Stewart, Department for Enterprise

â?¢ Deb Byron, Hansard

â?¢ Helen Summerscales, Isle of Man Advertising & PR Limited

â?¢ Stephen Bradley MBE, Mannin Group

â?¢ Tracey Leahy, MannVend

â?¢ Cathy Collins, Manx Telecom

â?¢ Jon Callister, Office of Human Resources

â?¢ Guy Templer, PokerStars

â?¢ Jo Pretty, University College Isle of Man.

For more information about this year’s Isle of Man Newspapers’ Awards for Excellence visit www.excellence-awards.im.