THE Island's leading business personalities attended the annual Isle of Man Newspapers' Awards for Excellence ceremony at the Villa Marina, Douglas, in November.

The black tie extravaganza in the Royal Hall was hosted by TV personality and impressionist Rory Bremner. 

Sixteen major awards were presented while the Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to the late Deemster Kerruish who died in July 2010.

This year was the fifth Awards for Excellence.

Victoria McEneaney, who was joint chair of the judging panel with Colin Kniveton, chief executive of the Department of Economic Development, said the night was "an opportunity to recognise exceptional achievement".

She added: "As always the key to the success of the whole event is the large number of varied and high quality entries in each of the categories, and once again this did not disappoint."

There was a special appearance on the night by the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games team who had recently returned from the Delhi Games.

Music act Four Poofs and a Piano, who found fame on Jonathan Ross' BBC TV chat show, entertained the audience.