Companies big and small, private and quoted, from every conceivable segment and sector right across the region entered this year's Awards and have now been whittled down to a shortlist of just 34.

Tony Quested CEO of Business Weekly comments, "It says a huge amount about the resilience of this region's business community that the 34 companies included on this year's shortlist represent what we consider to be the strongest showing in the Awards' 19 year history. As well as being the longest-running B2B awards in the UK, the East of England Business Awards are also acknowledged as the most rigorously judged. Our panel of respected entrepreneurs and business leaders ensure that we continue to back sustainable winners, while side-stepping the over-hyped and just plain flimsy".

AMG Systems is a world leading provider of transmission equipment designed for CCTV surveillance operations. Founded in 1990 by Dr. Alan Hayes, the company has used its considerable success in the UK market to break into and support foreign markets. The launch of the New Guardian-Lite series in 2006 which was selected for the NRTS (National Roads Telecommunications Services) in the UK, a number of Toll Roads and Highway Traffic Management applications in India, the O2 in London as well as a series of projects in the Middle East - including the Museum of Islamic Art, has been a great success in the market and has more than doubled export and tripled UK sales for AMG Systems. In 2008 AMG Systems further launched 2 new CCTV transmission solutions: Vision 1000 for Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) and Skywave for digital and analogue wireless transmission. The company also established an office for the Middle East Region based in Oman, and set up local support for the Indian Market. In January 2009 the company further launched their new Vision 5000 series at the Intersec exhibition in Dubai.

"We are incredibly proud to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award", said Alan Hayes. "Just to be in the running is excellent, but obviously we'd really like to win. As AMG continues to grow and establish itself further in demanding foreign markets the possibility of receiving such high profile recognition is a phenomenal boost of confidence to the entire staff who are working so hard to secure our continued growth".

The categories are: Killer Technologies; Private Company of the Year; Quoted Company of the Year and International Trade. A Business of the Year will be chosen from the shortlisted companies across all categories.
The Awards will be presented at a dinner on March 19 at Queen's College, Cambridge.