Company Annoucement - The Talk Radio 702 Small Business Awards with Sage One, powered by Sage Pastel and Sage VIP, has named Book Express www.bookexpress.co.za  as the Gauteng winner for 2014. Book Express won against strong competition from 30 small businesses that Talk Radio 702 listeners nominated for the awards.

The Awards aim to recognise and celebrate small businesses that offer exceptional service, and provide them with the necessary exposure to help them grow, and inspire other entrepreneurs to follow in their footsteps. The Awards are sponsored by Sage One - simple, secure and affordable online accounting and payroll for small, growing businesses. Book Express was founded in 2005 as a micro enterprise that provides new and second hand books at an affordable price to the UNISA student market on a national and international basis. The company impressed the judges with its passion, enthusiasm, growth potential, and devotion to customer service.

Book Express solves the problems that many students and professionals experience as a result of the inconvenience of shopping for textbooks during regular hours, the high cost of textbooks, and the lack of guidance and support in the purchase of textbooks. “This year, we received many worthy entries, reflecting the health and dynamism of South African small businesses. As a company that goes the extra mile for customers, and invests in its staff, Book Express is making a valuable contribution to the small business sector,” says Ivan Epstein, co-founder of Softline and CEO of Sage AAMEA (Australia, Asia, Middle East and Africa). “Congratulations to Book Express on winning this award - we hope that it helps to spur your business on to even greater heights in the years to come. Your business fills a valuable niche in the market and has a bright future ahead of it.”

“We are thrilled to have won the Talk Radio 702 Small Business Awards for 2014,” says Shereen Cassim Hassim, Managing Director at Book Express. “It is especially rewarding that we were nominated for this award by the people who matter most - our customers.” Courtesy of Sage One, Book Express wins a laptop with free access to Sage One Accounting and Sage One Payroll software, including one year’s worth of software support, and a training course or seminar of their choice, giving them the freedom they need to run their business anywhere, anytime.

The company also receives an airtime package to the value of R250 000 on Talk Radio 702 and one month’s advertising exposure on the Google Display Network to the value of R25 000 will also be awarded to the winners to further promote their businesses.

The two runners-up are Scimatics Solutions www.scimaticssolutions.co.za  - which offers tuition in science and maths to Pretoria learners and university students - and auto body repair centre Tutuka Motor Lab www.tutukamotorlab.com . Each runner-up will receive Sage One Accounting and Sage One Payroll software, including a year’s worth of software support. They will also receive a free training course or seminar of their choice as well as an airtime package to the value of R1