The 2025 Aycliffe Make Your Mark Awards will take place at Hardwick Hall Hotel in three weeks.
And the organisers have confirmed its host for the evening – popular BBC Tees radio presenter Gary Philipson.
During his radio career, Gary has been a gardening expert, touchside football reporter and now the MFC Matchday Fanzone host at Middlesbrough FC games. He was also the presenter, for five years, of the Late Night Zoo phone-in on TFM.
A Sony gold-award winner for the Real Radio breakfast show, he now presents the 11am-2pm show on BBC Radio Tees – a role, Gary says, that means “every day’s a schoolday!”
Gary, who once worked in the Aycliffe Business Park area for the old Sedgefield Borough Council, is looking forward to returning to the Make Your Mark Awards on 8th May after hosting the event for the first time last year.
Organisers are expecting a record attendance for the Make Your Mark Awards, with more than 270 people expected to be there on the night.
They will include representatives from sponsors Senstronics, GEM Partnership, Ebac, Husqvarna, Business Durham, The Auckland Project, Moonrise 24hr Recruitment, Roman, South West Durham Training, Swinburne Maddison and Masfix.
And those in attendance as guests will include the North East Chamber of Commerce, 3M, Stiller, BTS Fabrications, Durham Precision Engineering, Primex Plastics, NC Group, Palram, Contego Environmental Services, Murtek and Handelsbanken, among others.
Tickets cost £85 per person, or £800 for a table of 10, which includes welcome drinks, a three-course dinner, table drinks, a souvenir programme and the awards ceremony.
• Limited sponsorship opportunities are still available for the 2025 Make Your Mark Awards, while the final deadline to order tickets is 5pm on Tuesday, 22nd April. To enquire, email [email protected]
Click HERE to see a full list of the finalists for the 2025 Make Your Mark Awards.