Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he was thrilled to see how Brisbane businesses were adapting and overcoming difficult times through determination and ingenuity.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy and are critical to our economic recovery,” Cr Schrinner said.

“From community and sustainability to digital transformation and social enterprise, Brisbane businesses have risen to the challenges of 2020 and are reaching new levels of success.”

In recognition of the challenging environment in which businesses have had to adapt, the 2020 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards will celebrate those who have shown excellence in business adaption.

“One of the things COVID-19 has shown us is that Brisbane businesses were prepared to step up and adapt to the ever-changing environment,” Cr Schrinner said.

“The HSBC Award for Excellence in Business Adaption will be a fitting tribute of the efforts made to adapt and innovate during these unprecedented time."

Finalists for the inaugural HSBC Award for Excellence in Business Adaption include:

• FareShare, a charity that relies on the support of corporate volunteers to cook millions of meals for people in need who had to find quickly adapt new COVID-safe practices.
• Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers, a Brisbane small business that quickly transformed its operation to ensure customers could still enjoy a delicious dish of their homestyle gnocchi with family and friends.
• Street Science, a team of scientists and educators who regularly visit schools and shopping centres to change the way kids learn science who, when faced with a 90% decline in revenue as a result of being unable to do external presentations due to COVID-19 embraced technology to be able to continue their work.
• The Little Red Company, a Queensland production company that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that saw theatres shut down pivoted to create ‘The IsoLate Late Show’, a free, live variety show bringing the cream of Australia’s musical talent into locked-down living rooms via Facebook Live every Friday night.

As the preeminent awards for Brisbane businesses, the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards have helped winners and finalists achieve greater levels of success.

Law on Earth last year won the Brisbane City Council Award for Outstanding Micro Business in the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards.

“Winning the Micro Business Award provided us with the credibility to engage with corporates and has allowed us to scale the business over 500% on our projected growth,” said CEO and Founder, Katie Richards.

“It has also allowed us to be accepted into impact Boom Social Enterprise Accelerator and then Startmate being Australia’s best tech accelerator with global reach.”

Winners of the 2020 Lord Mayor's Business Awards will be announced on 26 November 2020.