ORGANISERS of the Hertfordshire Business Awards 2010 held the first of two networking events at a unique venue.

Representatives from businesses throughout the county congregated in Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, in the park’s conferencing facilities.

They were treated to a drinks reception followed by a tour of the park and the park’s new Tree Top event space.

This culminated in guests watching as park keepers fed two Bengal tigers.

Once the tour was over there were informative and topical presentations by Paul Beasley, managing director of The Richmond House Group, who spoke about the recession, and Maree Atkinson, from the FSB, who spoke about why businesses should enter the awards and what benefits they could receive.

Hertfordshire Business Awards are organised each year by Archant Herts & Cambs, which owns the Welwyn Hatfield T and several sister papers in the county.

A spokeswoman said: “Paradise Wildlife Park may not be an immediate place to think of when you think of businesses coming together to network, but nontheless it proved an excellent place to host such an event.

“Once the tour and presentations were over, guests enjoyed canap�s which were sponsored by caterers Passion for Flavours while continuing to network.”

If you want to learn more about entering the Hertfordshire Business Awards, why not attend the next networking event on September 16. For more information contact Sarah Scott at sarah.scott@archant.co.uk or visit the business awards website.