With only four more days to go to get your entries in to the South Wales Argus Business Awards we meet another of the sponsors, Monmouthshire Building Society.

The Newport-based building society, which has backed the awards since their inception, is the sponsor of the Contribution to the Community Award.

Who are you and what do you do?

Monmouthshire Building Society was founded in Newport in 1869 to meet the needs of local people and has been providing mortgage and savings products for more than 152 years since.

As a mutual building society, not a bank, our members’ needs are at the heart of everything we do.

Unlike banks, we are owned by our members. We don’t have shareholders and we are free to re-invest profit back into the Society to benefit current and future members. That’s what being a mutual is all about.

Anyone who has a savings or mortgage with us is a member of Monmouthshire Building Society and every decision we make is with the interests of our members in mind.

Why are you sponsoring this specific award?

The society is delighted to sponsor the Contribution to the Community award.

As a local society we’re passionate about supporting our communities and regularly support local community projects through our Branching into Communities programme, with funding and volunteering initiatives. We hope that our community initiatives can provide help and support for our most vulnerable and disadvantaged local communities.

In what has been a challenging 12 months, we are proud to recognise the commitment and dedication everyone has shown during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Why are awards important?

It’s essential to recognise the commitment and dedication that local businesses, organisations, and individuals have shown during the pandemic. Many organisations have gone above and beyond to support our local communities over this difficult period. We’re proud to be a regional society and to continue our own work supporting people in local communities.

Why do you believe it's important to showcase and celebrate local businesses, organisations and individuals?

As a regional building society, based in Newport, we understand the importance of community. We’re passionate about working for the benefit of our communities and thanks to our members, we can support local community projects through our Branching into Communities initiatives which include our charitable foundation, our branch sponsorship initiative and our colleague in the community volunteering initiative.

In what has been a challenging 18 months, we’re proud to recognise the commitment and dedication that local businesses, organisations and individuals have shown during the pandemic.

Why is it important to sponsor and support the South Wales Argus Business Awards?

Supporting our local communities is of primary importance to us. We’re based in Newport and employee over 200 employees from the region, across our branches and head office. What’s important to our employees and our members, is important to us and we do what we can to support local causes.

What message do you have for those considering entering the awards?

Go for it! Being recognised by being nominated and hopefully winning, will be a massive boost for your business. It will raise the profile of the business and encourage people to consider your products/services and a good place to work. You have nothing to lose!

The 2020/21 categories and their sponsors are: Lead sponsor and Business of the Year: Newport City Council; Innovative Business of the Year: Western Power Distribution; Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Icon Creative Design; Lifetime Achievement Award: TBC; Family Business of the Year Award: Azets; Large Business of the Year: RDP Law; Small Business of the Year: Kymin; Start Up Business of the Year Award: Educ8 Group; Contribution to the Community Award: Monmouthshire Building Society; Customer Service Award: Friars Walk/The Kingsway Centre; Training and Development Business of the Year: Inspired Media; Best BID Business of the Year: Newport Now Business Improvement District/Kevin Ward Media; Environmental Business of the Year: Cintec International; Hospitality Business of the Year: TBC; and Digital Technology Business of the Year: TBC.

Deadline for entries is Friday. September 24, 2021 and the awards event will take place on November 18.

For full details on the awards and how to enter go to southwalesargus.co.uk/businessawards.