Elle Cecil
The Melton Business Excellence Awards’ Hall of Fame Award elevates past Business of the Year Award winners and multiple category winners to have achieved excellence over a sustained period.
This year, two businesses have been inducted into the Hall of Fame:
Quest Apartments Caroline Springs
Two-time Business of the Year Award winner Quest Apartments Caroline Springs has been selected as one of the Melton Business Excellence Awards’ 2021 Hall of Fame inductees.
With 80 apartments ranging from Studio to Bedroom Executive Spa Apartments, features at Quest Caroline Springs include breakfast options, conference facilities, wheelchair access, flatscreen TV with Foxtel, fully equipped kitchenettes and kitchens, as well as complimentary car parking.
Quest Apartments has consistently displayed excellence in their field, winning the Best Hospitality and Tourism Business Award, Leaders in Sustainability Award and Business of the Year Award in 2015, as well as the Best Hospitality and Tourism Business Award, Mayoral Achievement Award and Business of the Year Award in 2016.
Exclusive Homes
Exclusive Homes won the Best Trade and Construction Business consecutively for seven consecutive years, ranging from 2010 to 2016.
With complete turnkey packages including house and land or just house packages, this family owned and operated business works closely with clients to make sure they receive exactly what they want. With custom designs or pre-designed homes available, Exclusive Homes is a family that builds for families.
Mayoral Achievement Award (and Creativity Award finalist) – Winner: Blissful Inspirations Cakes
Established in January 2017 after being encouraged by her family and friends to leave the corporate world and start her own business, Helen Hatzaras started Blissful Inspirations Cakes. Now, four years later, Helen’s multi-award winning business has added to its list of accolades, taking out the Melton Business Excellence Awards’ Mayoral Achievement Award for 2021.
Creating, designing and making custom cakes, gift boxes, slices, cookies and cupcakes, Helen runs her business on her own, making one to two cakes per week to ensure that all care and attention is lovingly dedicated to each cake.
The Mayoral Achievement Award joins Helen’s long list of accomplishments, including numerous first place awards at the Australian Cake Decorating Network, ABIA Wedding Cake Finalist 2020, ACDN Wedding Cake Finalist 2020, ACDN Decorator of the Year 2020, and multiple placings in the top three of the Royal Melbourne Show’s cake designing competition.
In post-pandemic life, Helen says her priorities have changed, and she now looks to maintain a better balance between her personal life and her business, whereas before now, her work life was all-encompassing.
Saying it’s the least she can do to help ill kids and their families to see the world in a brighter light, Helen is using her skills to do good. Volunteering her services to Cake Angels, Helen makes custom birthday cakes for sick kids. Helen is fortunate that she gets the opportunity to be involved in such a worthy cause to make a sick child feel extra special on their birthday.
Business of the Year Award (and Adaptability Award) – Winner: Events 720
Established in 2015, Events 720 has won both the Business of the Year Award and Award for Adaptability at the 2021 Melton Business Awards.
After identifying a gap in the market for the creation of exciting exhibition stands, Events 720 was born and offers complete customised solutions to exhibitors fro design to production, delivery to installation. Growing by 80 percent each year prior to the pandemic, by February 2020 Events 720 had already surpassed its yearly revenue for the previous financial year.
Following a complete blockage of income due to the closure of the events industry from March 2020, Leon Mortimer had to pivot his business to offer Australian-made wooden toys, as well as parklets and dining booths when restrictions began lifting.
With two factories located in Melton, the team of six at Events 720 have completed many projects for local businesses and have participated in a variety of events to prompt community members to start or grow their own businesses.
As a customer service focused business, staff listen to each customer to recommend personalised solutions, using detailed internal processes to ensure each customer is treated at the same high level.
One of the positives that the Events 720 has discovered is that its staff feel more connected than ever to the business. Watching the collapse of the events and exhibition industry was hard for the staff, but the team were always upfront and truthful with each other, while every effort was made to ensure everyone could keep their jobs.
Upon displaying their resilience in moving from one dried up revenue stream to now running four distinguishable income streams, the judges of the 2021 Melton Business Awards believe that Events 720 is not only deserving of the Adaptability Award, but also for the council’s Business of the Year Award.
